There is a most unusual technical, hydrogeological report on-line that I read many, many years ago. Like many others, rereading it years later is very helpful especially if one has been constantly elevating one's background knowledge and staying up to date with current events. Now I am somewhat reluctant and concerned to be the bearer of bad news particularly because I know that our idiot politicians are highly likely to do what they do best, which is to misuse and abuse information for their own self-serving purposes. This report is titled "Groundwater Contamination In The Kitchener-Waterloo Area, Ontario". It was written in 1995 by a group of hydrogeologists from the University of Waterloo and possibly elsewhere. Many of these are well known, world class hydrogeologists including names such as Sanderson, Karrow, Greenhouse, Paloschi, Schneider, Mulamoottil, Mason, McBean, Fitzpatrick, Mitchell, Shrubsole & Child. Dr. John Cherry is also referenced in this report.
Recently I have published here various known contaminants in various Waterloo Region wellfields. This report expands significantly on my Blog postings of last month (July 2026) describing various wellfields and the various toxic contaminants in their groundwater. This report focuses on four older wellfields namely one in Waterloo (William St. Wellfield) and three in Kitchener (Greenbrook, Strange St. and Parkway). It also advises that at the time of this 1995 report there were twenty-three different wells involved over the four wellfields with four in the William St. Wellfield, seven in the Greenbrook Wellfield, seven also in the Strange St. Wellfield and finally five in the Parkway Wellfield. Currently not only are there different numbers of wells versus in 1995 but appropriately old wells that have been shut down since 1995 have had their names removed and new wells have of course new names.
This report indicates that BTEX compounds normally from gasoline have been detected in all four of these wellfields. The BTEX compounds are benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene. Tetrachloroethylene (PCE) has also been found in all four wellfields. PCE or Perc(hlorethylene) has often been used by dry cleaners in decades past. Very worrisome are aluminum, cadmium, chromium and lead all found in the Parkway wells. Two items of interest: these metals are often associated with tanneries producing leather of which two local names come to my mind i.e. Breithaupt and Lang. Gee you don't think that our regional politicians have been keen to avoid embarrassing prominent local, industrial families do you? The second item of interest is the plan to allegedly rehabilitate the Parkway wells. Oddly we have mercury in the Greenbrook Wellfield. That compound could be from a tannery or even possibly naturally occurring nearby.
The last one is a humdinger. Total PCBs have been detected in the William St. and the Strange St. Wellfields. My God! PCBs or Polychlorinated Biphenyls are a first cousin to dioxins and in some cases are even referred to as "dioxin like". My guess is that the former Uniroyal Tire plant on Strange St. may be a culprit based upon their plethora of toxic compounds found in the air in and around the plant decades ago.
Now I have a teaser for you. Is it possible that there is strong analytical evidence that Varnicolor Chemical in Elmira not only contributed six chlorinated solvents to the Elmira drinking water aquifers as stated here yesterday, but also NDMA? Stay tuned for tomorrow's Blog posting.
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