CPAC MEMBER PUBLICLY CRITICIZES WOOLWICH COUNCIL & GIVES SUPPORT TO GRAVEL PIT OPPONENTS

So you ask, what is the big deal about a CPAC member criticizing council? My response: exactly; what is the big deal? In last Saturday's Woolwich Observer Dr. Sebastian Seibel-Achenbach wrote a Letter to the Editor criticizing Woolwich Council for their decision regarding "rebranding" the Township including acquiring a new logo. Sebastian felt that the costs involved of a new logo replacing the current one were a waste of money.

A few months back I clearly heard a Woolwich employee make a comment about a proposed nominee to CPAC having their name dropped because they were no longer a "friend of the Township". I was miffed at the time and regret not stepping into that one, then and there. I personally know that proposed nominee and they certainly are both a resident and a "friend of the Township". What the Woolwich employee actually was saying was that this Woolwich resident had had a falling out with Woolwich Council. She was appropriately very upset with a Decision that four out of five councillors had made that she had researched and invested a lot of time in.

Obviously this senior Woolwich employee felt that a disagreement with Council precluded any hope of their being ratified by Council to CPAC which is a committee of Council. Boy does this do a huge disservice to the maturity and ethics of Woolwich Council. Any and every political body is going to have petty, immature members. They are called human beings afterall and to err is human. It is my sincere hope that our current Council while very green 2 1/2 years ago, have long ago found their feet and are confidently approaching each and every challenge. That said they will make mistakes and they will be so criticized. Sebastian has done so and that is his absolute right. Similarily this other Woolwich resident made no bones about her disappointment with a Council Decison. Neither she nor Sebastian should be "disciplined" by Council in any form whatsoever including being removed as a volunteer from a committee of council nor being denied as a member.

So in a nutshell are volunteer, unpaid members of a committee of council expected to be boosters of said Council? Are those members there out of civic duty and responsibility to an issue or cause; or are they merely rubber stamps and mouthpieces of Council? If Woolwich Council or any municipal council want yes men and women; there are lots of those to go around including here in Woolwich. Our current CPAC are independent, strong personalities. Just as important they are honest and focused on the issue at hand which is restoring Elmira's groundwater to drinking water standards by 2028. They are doing this onerous and stressful job on their own time and at their own expense. Being "a friend of Council" is insulting and trivial and must not be a prerequisite.

Finally Sebastian in his Letter to the Editor makes the suggestion that Council should earmark their "rebranding" funds instead to the upcoming legal battles at the Ontario Municipal Board regarding the West Montrose and Conestogo (Hunder Pit) gravel pits. This nominee to CPAC completely agrees with Sebastian.

MORE SHADY DEALS FROM THE M.O.E. ?

I had a long conversation with a CPAC (Chemtura Public Advisory Committee) member this weekend and that person came up with a very interesting scenario which I will now present. Keep in mind that this scenario is based upon circumstantial evidence and the fact that the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (M.O.E.) have lied to and deceived the Woolwich Township public before.

FACT: We have been advised that the partial cleanup of GP1 & 2 at Chemtura will cost $2.5- 3.0 million.

FACT: Chemtura claims that no toxic chemicals are leaving their site from GP1 & 2.

FACT: The M.O.E. are publicly backing Chemtura's above claim.

FACT: The most recent M.O.E. study (2012) indicates that Dioxins and DDT are still migrating downstream in the
Canagagigue Creek most likely from Chemtura.

FACT: While both the M.O.E. and Chemtura claim it is a voluntary cleanup ($2.5- 3.0 million) this same company insist
they can't afford to fund a professional peer review consultant for CPAC to the tune of $10,000.

FACT: A CPAC member (Ron Campbell) asked an excellent question of Chemtura at the last public CPAC meeting June 27/13,
namely if you're so broke and this cleanup isn't mandatory or being ordered by the M.O.E. then why are you doing it
at all? Neither Chemtura nor the M.O.E. cared to respond to Ron's question.


CONCLUSIONS: Woolwich residents, their representatives (CPAC) and Woolwich Council have been bypassed yet again in regards to the Elmira cleanup. Most likely there once again have been private, secret negotiations between Chemtura and the M.O.E., intentionally and dishonestly eliminating the most honest and best informed citizens from the process. Chemtura have long favoured private negotiations with CPAC with the express purpose of keeping the public in the dark, contrary to CPAC's mandate. The Ontario M.O.E. are incredible hypocrites both enabling these private, backroom deals with Chemtura while publicly trumpeting public consultation via the Chemtura Public Advisory Committee . Meanwhile thank god this Woolwich Council, I believe, only has one hypocrite on it who insists that CPAC should play nice and not confront either Chemtura or the M.O.E. That hypocrite will continue their campaign to keep me off of CPAC.

DOCTORS STRONGLY SUPPORT ONTARIO'S RENEWABLE ENERGY

Today's Woolwich Observer on page 5 carrys a full page story/commentary titled "Doctors urge province to ramp up renewable energy". This article was written by three members of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment and they have a history of advocating on behalf of cleaner energy. They quote statistics such as in Ontario in 2010, Ontario's coal fired electrical plants killed 300 citizens and caused over 158,000 illnesses. Yes it is shocking. Nuclear power, natural gas, coal and home heating fuel oil contribute to climate change, respiratory illness, brain damage, cancer and or radioactive wastes and acidified lakes.

Solar power and wind power do none of the above. The doctors also claim that recent studies (2009, 2012) show that there is no scientific evidence of Wind Turbine Syndrome. This claim I am taking with a grain of salt as I recall for decades in my youth that there was no scientific evidence that smoking caused cancer. Funny how as popular opinion turned against smoking, the studies suddenly popped up everywhere.

The bottom line is that our medical community recognize that our current energy sources not only aren't sustainable but they are slowly killing us.

ELMIRA INDEPENDENT APPROPRIATELY HAMMERS CHEMTURA AGAIN

Yesterday's Elmira Independent came out with another story about the June 28/13 public CPAC meeting. The title of the story is "Former waste pits still a source of contention". Gail Martin, editor and reporter, states "The pits (GP1 & 2) are laced with DDT, dioxins and furans, all chemicals with significant health risks to the public.". This is the crux of failure of the Ontario M.O.E. to demand a proper removal versus a scraping (1') and capping of these two areas.

Gail unfortunately repeats Chemtura's blatantly nonsensical position that these pits are "contained" on the Chemtura property. If they were "contained" we still wouldn't be finding DDT and dioxins, in quantity, downstream in the Canagagigue Creek.

The following quote from Doug Smith of Conestoga Rovers is typical of their psuedo science " We don't want to be excavating below the water table, because we don't want to be churning up the soil and making a bigger mess than we have". What kind of drivel is this? Is the "mess" no more than wet soil and muddy sand and gravel, which is essentially irrelevant, or is he actually being honest and suggesting that the "bigger mess" would be mobilizing the deeper DDT and Dioxins?

A big issue is the depth to which both groundwater and soil samples were taken. Conestoga Rovers (CRA) on behalf of Chemtura have very carefully refused to take any intermediate or deep samples, especially soil, as this would give a much better idea of the depth to which the dioxins and DDT have migrated. Yours truly was extensively quoted by Gail Martin as follows "Marshall noted that the density of dioxins and furans are greater than water, which could permit the chemicals to migrate below the water table.". This migration could be either as dissolved dioxins/DDT in solvent laden groundwater or even as a free phase mixture, namely as a DNAPL (dense non aqueous phase liquid). I was further quoted as follows "I would suggest that if you don't test below the water table, you'll never find anything below the water table". Further "You don't know what is four feet down, eight feet down, but I'll tell you what is down there, UA1, UA2 and UA3, (upper aquifers 1,2,3) discharging to Canagagigue Creek.".

Steve Quigley of CRA stepped in to relieve the pressure on Doug Smith by stating that dioxins and furans are hydrophobic and don't readily migrate in groundwater. This old saw may apply on some sites but not on this one as I stated "Dioxins and DDT are mobilized by solvents", and "this site is just filled with solvents.".

All in all Gail has accurately reported the pressure that CPAC are putting on Chemtura and the M.O.E.. Chemtura and CRA are responding with junk science, bull...., arrogance and stubborness . They do not have a scientifically valid leg to stand on.

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE

Yesterday's Waterloo Region Record carrys this story " Water just doesn't have anywhere to go". A local university professor, Blair Feltmate, was interviewed regarding both the recent Toronto and Calgary flooding and more. I'm not sure as to how this would be accomplished but he is suggesting that cities increase the amount of permeable surfaces including using materials for parking lots, sidewalks and even roadways that are permeable. Obviously current concrete and asphalt surfaces while reasonably durable certainly are not permeable, by intention.

The prof also suggests that municipalities need to redraw their floodplain maps and encompass larger areas to reflect the new reality of larger precipitation events. This of course will meet opposition from vested interests namely developers who are constantly butting heads with municipal and regional councils. Currently here they have taken the Region of Waterloo to the Ontario Municipal Board regarding an alleged lack of new development lands. Finally cities need to be proactive in promoting and protecting wetlands within their borders as they are wonderful buffers during heavy rain events.

All of these ideas will not only protect cities from flooding but they will also promote more recharge of our groundwater resources. As cities grow they need more water not less and attempting to channel all rainflow into the nearest surface water body is counterproductive and indeed impossible.

ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW TRIBUNAL DECISION RE: NORTHSTAR DIRECTORS

This Decision was issued two days ago and is a very dry 30 pages of reading. It is all about a couple of Motions filed by twelve Directors of Northstar Inc. who are very unhappy about being put securely on the hook to pay for ongoing and long term remediation both of their site at 695 Bishop St. as well as the off-site contamination and finally the maintenance of residential air ventilation systems throughout the Bishop St. community. It is our Ontario Ministry of the Environment who have put them on this legal and very expensive hook via naming them in a Control Order. One could almost say that the days of Directorships being handed out to celebrities, retired politicians and other big shots are over. Apparently the M.O.E. believe that Boards of Directors do have legal duties and obligations. It is also conceivable that Directorships of companies may be related to financial investments or shares in said company; in which case these Directors represent ownership in one way or the other.

This is not the first time that the Ontario M.O.E. have gone after Directors when a polluting company goes bankrupt. They did so unsucessfully twenty-two years ago with Varnicolor Chemical in Elmira. They were unsucessful because those three Directors (& investors) were able to prove that they were patsys with zero control and zero authority, who were given a small return on their investment plus named as Directors. For them it was a status thing which they soon regretted as the owner Severin Argenton essentially treated them as less than idiot cousins.

I do not see any attempt by these Directors to use that kind of defence. My suspicion is that these twelve fellows are not plumbers, electricians and insurance brokers as in the Varnicolor case. My suspicion is that they may well be worldly, professionals in the field of accounting, engineering, manufacturing etc.. This particular Decision was merely a skirmish. The big battles are coming and it will be interesting to see if the M.O.E. stand up and fight like men or if they do their usual crying for mommy when the going gets tough. My experience with the M.O.E. is that they are bullys with the little guys and gutless wonder cowards when the big boys stand up to them and tell them to f... off.

There are two questions here. Are these Directors big boys or little guys AND how much damaging info do the Directors have on the M.O.E.. If the M.O.E. were negligent and incompetent as they were in Elmira with Uniroyal; then they will attempt to negotiate a face saving way out of this. Rest assurred if it goes that route the M.O.E. will sell out the interests of the local residents and the public in a flash. They will buy their reputation out of trouble once again, using taxpayers dollars.

CHEMTURA SOLDIERS ON WITH PUBLICLY PROVEN FALSEHOODS

"Plausible deniability" was a Hollywood tag for CIA lying about their complicity in shady operations. In my opinion much of what Chemtura and their consultants have been doing for the last twenty-four years falls under the "plausible deniability" umbrella. Yes there have been occasions when Chemtura/CRA have written a technical report of some scientific and technical merit. There have been far too many occasions when the research and data have been reasonably rigorous while the Conclusions arising from them have been out of Alice in Wonderland. In other words the interpretation of the data has been client driven and incredibly self-serving. Unremarkably there have been occasions when these self-serving interpretations have saved the company large amounts of money in allegedly unecessary remediation.

The entire DNAPL scam, sham, investigations and farce fall into the above categories. Chemtura have soldiered on with half truths, full truths and no truths despite overwhelming evidence and proven technical literature and expertise contrary to their positions. They made a sweetheart deal with the Ontario M.O.E. back on October 7, 1991 which saved them hundreds of millions of dollars and no way, no how are they going to make any honest admissions now to jeopardize that. Quite frankly rather than my being personally offended by their DNAPL dishonesty I'm beginning to feel sorry for their Elmira staff being forced to come out to CPAC meetings and publicly and blatantly tell DNAPL whoppers.

Yours truly presented a one page Delegation to CPAC at the May 30/13 meeting which gave report and page references proving the existence of free phase (ie. free flowing liquid) DNAPL discovered during the 1993 excavations at TPW2 in Chemtura's south-west corner. These reports were from Conestoga Rovers, the Region of Waterloo and even an allegedly independent hydrogeologist occasionally parachuted in by the old CPAC, namely Wilf Ruland. I fully expected a debate/discussion either at the May CPAC meeting or at the very least at the following June 27/13 CPAC meeting. Neither happened to my surprise although Chemtura did hand out a multipage CRA document titled "Summary of South Yard Drum Excavations", dated that day, June 27/13.

In the interim I've had sucessful surgery and am recuperating at home and catching up on my reading. Lo and behold what a piece of "implausible deniability" this report is. It totally ignores the facts I presented a month earlier and continues on with the Chemtura version of the truth. They make zero attempt to debate or deny. They make zero attempt to reconcile their version with the smoking gun facts and reality as presented. They have no intelligent response other than "this is my story and I'm sticking to it". This is a *Responsible Care company without shame.