INTENTIONAL MUDDYING OF THE WATERS (Dr. Jackson we need you !)

or BULLSHIT BAFFLES BRAINS



This is the Ontario Ministry of the Environment's best weapon. Truth and straightforwardness are their enemy. Lies, deceptions, weasel wording, manipulation are their best friends. Why most people walk away from confrontations with them eventually is due to self-preservation. Disgust and contempt are difficult to live with and can hurt you more than those deserving of your disgust and contempt. Dr. Jackson has walked away. He blamed "public policy" not technical issues as the enemy. I interpret "public policy" as politics. He understood that the Ontario M.O.E. had no interest in doing the right thing in Elmira. I do not blame him for walking away. I do however encourage him to rest and recharge and then, if and when he's ready, to rejoin the fray. His expertise and blunt honesty are needed.

I have publicly called the Ontario Ministry of the Environment liars. I have called them corrupt. Both are truthful and accurate assessments. Their Executive Summary of their "Biomonitoring Assessment of Canagagigue Creek in Elmira, Ontario: Sediment, fish, and toxicity and bioaccumulation results from 2014-2015" is worthy of our disgust. Similarily their covering letter of March 3, 2017 addressed to "Her Worship Mayor Sandy Shantz" is of equal honesty and value. It has a number of deceptive and misleading statements in it.

This entire process starting in 2012 has been one large scam. Everything possible has been done to make it next to impossible for ordinary citizens to keep up with the process. Report after report spread over five years requires almost regular rereading and restudy in order to keep up with the latest misdirection and deceptive words and text in the Ministry's next report. They build their case upon falsehoods in their reports from five years ago.

This has been much easier over the last two and a half years due to either the stupidity or corruption of Sandy and Mark. It could be one or both, I've given up trying to figure it out. CPAC members including myself have been BANNED from asking questions or even making comments during public meetings regarding Chemtura and the Ministry of Environment. FOUR TIMES PER YEAR we are allowed to present a ten minute Delegation to RAC. That's it. We can not ask questions at all nor can we make comments during the rest of the meeting. The most knowledgable and honest citizens have been intentionally excluded from the process by the actions and behaviours of politicians essentially working on behalf of the polluter and his corrupt regulator.

The timing is exquisite. Now is the time for Chemtura and the M.O.E. to strike. Despite all the evidence clearly indicating adverse effects in the natural environment due to both past and ongoing discharges of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) into the Canagagigue Creek; they are going to get away without cleanup. More monitoring, more investigation and more assessment. Meanwhile the sediments are well above criteria up and down the creek as are the concentrations of POPs in benthic organisms as well as fish tissues. Shameful and disgusting. Once again thank you Mark and Sandy. Chemtura thanks you and so does the Ministry of Environment.

MORE MONITORING, INVESTIGATION & ASSESSMENT - HEAVEN FORBID NO CLEANUP

The Ontario Ministry of Liars and Deceivers aka the Ministry of Errors and Excuses (MOEE) aka (also known as) the Ministry of Errors and Corporate Collusion (MOECC) released their Ecological (Risk) Assessment on Canagagigue Creek yesterday. I saw the two hundred pages on my e-mail this morning. They have finally publicly admitted that there are sediment quality Guidelines which had been denied by Jason Rice of the MOECC last fall. Shameless and unbelievable in their behaviour. This I believe is the primary reason Dr. Jackson resigned as TAG Chair although I suspect he was encouraged behind the scenes by Sandy and Mark. I repeat that, to date, is only a suspicion.

I have read the entire raw data which was only released to me a little over a month ago although the Township received it late last year. I have also read the Executive Summary and the Covering letter. The Ministry of Environment are admitting that there are many exceedances of guidelines and criteria for multiple contaminants both in the sediments and in the fish in the Canagagigue Creek. These contaminants in exceedance are Dioxins/Furans, PCBs, DDT & metabolites and Mercury. There are other low level contaminants (pesticides) indicated although I do not recall recent testing for Polyaromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH). These were an issue twenty years ago and probably still are.

All the data are in place for the MOECC to order Chemtura Canada to clean up of the creek. The M.O.E. have spent the last five years testing sediments, floodplain soils (barely), fish tissues and benthic organisms. The guidelines and criteria are based upon the most up to date science which indicates the concentrations which cause adverse effects to the environment and wildlife living in and around the creek. Despite this the corrupt Ontario Ministry of the Environment still refuse to do so.

Theirs is not a do nothing report, quite. They are recommending more monitoring, more investigation and more assessment. Of course ordering Chemtura Canada to actually excavate, dredge or otherwise remediate the creek from their site downstream to the mouth of the Canagagigue at the Grand River is much too appropriate and hence radical for them. Afterall Chemtura might object to any such order. Corrupt governments rule environmental non-cleanups in this province. Just ask the folks in Grassy Narrows.

FURTHER AFIELD POLITICS AFFECTS US ENVIRONMENTALLY HERE IN ONTARIO

Today's Waterloo Region Record carries the following story titled "Great lakes mayors sound alarm". A group known as The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative represents mayors from more than 125 U.S. and Canadian cities in the Great Lakes basin. They are sounding the alarm in regards to proposed drastic U.S. cuts to an ecological recovery initiative for the Great Lakes. This ongoing initiative "...combats invasive species, curbs nutrient-fueled algae blooms, cleans up toxic messes and restores sensitive fish and wildlife habitat.".

Both the public in general as well as bipartisan political support for protecting the Great Lakes has been consistently shown for decades. President's Trump's announcement last week to drastically reduce financial support for both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as well as other federally funded protection and restoration projects affecting the shared Great Lakes could be the death blow. It has taken decades to transform talk into action and many Areas of Concern on both the Canadian and U.S. side of the Lakes have been successes although much more is still needed.

OBSERVER PUBLISHES WEST MONTROSE PUFF PIECE ON BEHALF OF REGION OF WATERLOO?

The Woolwich Observer published the following story this week titled "New line will stabilize regional water services in West Montrose". That title is horse manure as is a good chunk of the story. What is particularily offensive is that the Observer have published more accurate stories in the past regarding the West Montrose system and as well they have attended Woolwich Council meetings two and three years ago in which I presented data and reports indicating raw water quality problems from the four river wells in West Montrose. Furthermore there was even a certain level of support from Woolwich Council two years ago including letters from the Woolwich Engineering Dep't requesting clarification from the Region regarding West Montrose wells as well as requests from the Township for the Region to include more chemical parameters in their water testing such as NDMA, toluene etc..

All that said it was not the specific reporter who wrote this current story who was involved two and three years ago. Nevertheless is their no institutional memory at the Observer? Their part owner Pat Merlihan was two years ago and is a Woolwich Councillor. I would characterize him as being involved and helpful on this matter two years ago.

I personally do not believe for a second that the quantity of water is the problem with the four, shallow West Montrose wells. They are installed in the flood plain of the Grand River possibly fourty or fifty metres from the river itself. I lived for a decade beside the river in West Montrose and it never even came close to running dry. With the Shand Dam (Belwood Lake) upstream at Fergus how could it?
These wells were installed by the developer exactly where they are in order to ensure a reliable supply of water. They are hydraulically connected to the river which is both their strength and weakness. The strength is supply and the weakness is quality. River water inherently has much more bacteria and viruses available to it than groundwater.

Above and beyond that is the unpleasant and distasteful fact that these wells are built downgradient of all the septic systems in West Montrose. Shallow septic systems all flowing via shallow groundwater into the shallow wells along the river. Add to this is the possibility, note I say possibility only, of leaks or discharges from the just upriver trailer camp. There is no municipal septic service, sanitary sewers etc. in West Montrose. It's all private septic systems and or possibly a few holding tanks.

Ontario over the last fifteen to twenty years have become more stringent about installing septic systems anywhere near surface water bodies for very good reason. Grandfathering of older systems is however the norm. The West Montrose raw water supply has been contaminated with bacteria, both Total Coliforms and E.Coli for a very long time. Yes recent upgrades of their treatment system as well as trucked in water have been helpful. The Region of Waterloo took over this system a long time ago and bandaid solutions may or may not have saved lives and health but what has been needed for a very long time is a new source of drinking water that isn't downgradient or cross-gradient from bacteria (viruses?) contaminated sources. Telling West Montrose residents to hold on for another two years of construction isn't good enough. In my opinion it's been a miracle that we haven't had an outbreak of E.Coli or related illness over the years. There have been boil water advisories in the past and on-site (Tallwood Dr.) water treatment issues still occasionally arise. This is not supposed to be a third world country and I truly do not understand the Region's management of the West Montrose water supply.

SELF-SERVING LYING TO THE PUBLIC BY AUTHORITIES & PRIVATE INTERESTS SHOULD BE CRIMINALIZED

Of course don`t hold your breath on that one because it would take a whole pack of honest politicians to ever do that. Or as the comedian once said getting a large group of honest politicians together is as difficult as forming a vegan sub-committee of carnivores. Steve Kannon`s article in yesterday`s Observer as well as Anam Latiff`s article in yesterday`s Record both have links to them on my Advocate posting yesterday titled ``Overwhelming & Appropriate Disgust To Jigs Hollow Pit Proposals``.

If on a balance of probabilities it could be determined in a court of law that the proposed gravel extraction was into the deep overburden aquifer versus the shallow overburden aquifer as the proponents and their consultant state; then in my opinion a criminal conviction should ensue. This is because the deception (if proven) would be for a self-serving purpose namely to make more money for the corporation by minimizing and downgrading dissent and opposition through the method of lying to the public. If the gravel pit is indeed in the deep overburden aquifer then the threat to nearby private wells in Winterbourne and public wells (C05, C06) in Conestogo is much greater than stated.

The same thing should ensue for Noise, Viewscapes, habitat issues, dust, truck traffic etc.. In other words intentional deception and lying need to be criminal offenses. The game today allows developers, promoters, consultants and yes politicians to lie their heads off without any consequences. This in a nutshell is a win-win for professional liars and a lose-lose for the public. This is why we have degraded environments, air, water, land and an epidemic of cancers.

OVERWHELMING & APPROPRIATE PUBLIC DISGUST TO JIGS HOLLOW PIT PROPOSALS

Both the Waterloo Region Record and the Woolwich Observer covered the meeting in Woolwich Council Chambers this past Tuesday evening (along with CKCO-TV Kitchener). The Observer's story in today's paper is titled "Residents come out swinging against latest gravel pit plan for Jigs Hollow". The Record's story yesterday was titled "Residents oppose request to change rules for gravel pit". While both stories are very good nevertheless I am going to primarily be using my notes for today's posting.

Jan Huisson from Conestogo is one of the members of Friends of the Winterbourne Valley. He spoke Tuesday evening mentioning that the OMB in their Hunder Pit Decision made a pretty big deal about noise in a previous very quiet location could rise very easily to being an adverse effect. The Ministry of Environment criteria is 45 decibels. Jan stated that Back-Up beepers on construction equipment alone can be at 115 decibells and can be heard up to two kilometres away. This could go on from 7 am. to 7 pm. for the next fifteen to twenty years. He also mentioned that both the Region of Waterloo and the Grand River Conservation Authority are in favour of Woolwich Township deferring the decision regarding lifting the Holding Provision on the site.

Karen Bleckholt of Winterbourne spoke very bluntly. Big business were attempting to bully a small community and she didn't appreciate it. She essentially, politely told them to bugger off. I quite enjoyed her comments.

Graham Stickler is a hydrologist from Winterbourne. He clarified as to how models need to be validated and verified. This refers to noise models and that they had not been properly verified. There is a theatre effect with the valley and the river and noise is amplified. He believes that the noise model presented by the proponents was not verified particularily in the residential areas of Winterbourne.

Sonya Somerville spoke to issues concerning Class 1 Farmland and food production in southern Ontario. Initially the pit was going to be at least rehabilitated to Class 2 soils but now it will be nothing more than a manmade lake. This is not rehabilitation.

Laurie Breed and Jan Huisson spoke to Cultural Heritage issues and how they would be degraded by this proposed gravel pit. There would also be a loss of tourism dollars in the area courtesy of this pit.

Della Strooboscher of Conestoga spoke to the bad faith displayed by Preston Sand & Gravel. In September 2013 they ignored the operational plan by starting work early. On Saturday April 26/14 they were improperly working on the site also in contravention of their agreement. She mentioned that there is an Old Order Mennonite School on the truck Haul Route from the pit. The trucks in fact would be travelling within 200 metres of the school.She advised that the provincial agency dealing with real estate assessment had directly due to the gravel pit, lowered the house financial evaluation at 230 Golf Course Rd.. She listed all the adverse effects including noise, visual, traffic, loss of prime farmland and drinking water threats.

Tony Dowling of West Montrose spoke. He is a member of Gravel Watch (ontario). He stated that councils should give greater credence to citizens' information reports than to the consultants of the Applicant. He reiterated the pattern of non-compliance by Preston S & G. This included starting before 7 am. and going below 1.5 metres from the water table, contrary to their binding agreement. He showed how they (PSG) had fiddled their 2014, 2015 and 2016 Compliance assessment reports. In all three they had stated that they were in compliance with all sections when in fact they were not. Tony repeatedly used their own phrase that "mistakes happen" against PSG. Finally he advised that the Ministry of Natural resources and Forestry most likely will not stop PSG's newest plans but that the Township were in a position to do so.

John Milloy of Conestogo mentioned that when he bought his home he understood that a small pit would run there for six to seven years. These newest plans have shocked him. He also spoke to several cool water fish species that would be at risk as well as the vulnerability of groundwater.

Willem Horst de Ville lives on Peel St. right across from the pit. He spoke to the massive changes in the plans for the pit over the last several years. He had also been advised of drastic reductions in house values do to proximity to gravel pits. Under 1/2 km away house values can drop 25% and even a full kilometre away they can drop by 15%.

Dan Kennally of the Woolwich Planning & Engineering Dep't spoke last. He reiterated that the Township are looking for two more peer reviews of the Proponent/Applicant's studies and that there will be ample notice given to the public before this application proceeds further.

Of interest and concern to me was Woolwich Council's muteness throughout. While they asked a couple of questions of the Proponent David Sisco at the start; they virtually didn't make a comment or ask a single question of all the citizens speaking on Tuesday night. Why not? It sure as hell isn't that they know all the answers. That was made obvious by the calibre of the couple of questions they did ask early on. I smell a rat but that's because of Council's history on this pit plus other environmental issues.

A RAIN OF TERROR UPON JIGS HOLLOW GRAVEL PIT PROPONENTS

For a citizen activist, last evening was heaven on earth. Woolwich Council Chambers were not just full, they were full and overflowing. Latecomers were lined up outside the two rooms listening from the hallway. There were no shackles, whips or branding irons present. What was present was citizen after citizen calmly, quietly and accurately making a mockery of the rehabilitation plans, the consultants' reports and the misinformation presented by David Sisco (planner-IBI Group) on behalf of Shawn Blackwell of Preston Sand & Gravel. The proponents, similar to most well heeled proponents of environmentally unsound projects, are the ones who usually make a mockery of the process. They simply attempt to outspend and out qualify with bought and paid for "expert" opinion. Data is cherry picked to support their positions and overall bludgeon their way to getting their way. Often their consultants' reports are pure puffery and wishful thinking. They are the "opinions" of credentialed individuals willing to sell their minds; intellectual prostitutes if you will.

Today I will only be able to cover half of last night's meeting. I expect to cover the other half tomorrow. Only the Applicant/Proponent can appeal (to the OMB) a decision of Woolwich Council not to lift their Holding Provision prohibiting below the groundwater gravel extraction. In other words if Woolwich Council are hell bent on political suicide/environmental & human adverse impacts and agree to lift their Holding provision affected citizens can not appeal to the OMB. Currently Woolwich Township are getting peer reviews of the Proponents's noise and hydrogeological studies. These are a must as it appears that both of them are self-serving and full of holes. The Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) and the Region of Waterloo have both raised concerns with the Preston Sand & Gravel Application and are currently asking Woolwich Council for a deferral in order to allow the Proponent/Applicants time to respond to their concerns. The Region wants Preston S & G to add identification of drinking wells within 1000 metres (1 km) of the pit. This would appropriately include all the Winterbourne private wells. Preston S & G are claiming that there is a shallow aquifer groundwater divide caused by the Grand River which prevents any impact upon Winterbourne wells. Nice try there Preston S & G. While your basic statement (groundwater divide) may be true it is misleading and deceptive as that very deep pit (proposed lake) certainly can have impacts on Winterbourne private wells.

Councillor Mark Bauman (Mr. Flip Flop) did it again. He bailed out of the controversy by declaring a conflict of interest. Shades of mayor Doug Craig and I believe Chair Ken Seiling bailing out of the LRT voting a few years back. They used their children's ownership of properties near the proposed LRT routes as an excuse to avoid politically dangerous votes. In Mark's case he claimed to have a relationship with one of the Proponent/Applicants. I'm pretty certain he wasn't suggesting an inappropriate male/female relationship but it still begs the obvious question. If he's got a relationship now with one of the proponents did he have this "relationship" in the past? If so why didn't he declare his conflict of interest then? There have been some pro gravel pit votes by him over the years. Or in the contrary is his "relationship" simply an out so he doesn't have to vote against a local, well known and influential business party? Voting in favour of this gravel pit now is political suicide. Even Woolwich Council I hope aren't that stupid.

Anton Huber(?) of Winterbourne spoke to a book and a couple of experts' studies of floodplains and the gravel within them and how they affect renewal of aquatic ecosystems. A functioning floodplain improves water quality and the overall ecosystems nearby. Removal of gravel from floodplains is extremely harmful and the cumulative negative effects of numerous gravel pits along rivers are well known.

Gord Haywood of Conestogo was one of a number of devastating speakers last night. He mentioned a number of credibility issues regarding the Applicants of this below water table gravel pit. Some of these included Viewscapes and Noise Studies and the flaws in them. For example inaccurate identification of the houses has occurred with 1127 and 1129 Jigs Hollow Rd. homes. Also stockpiles of gravel identified in one report as 8 metres high end up in another report stated as 20 metres high. Some of the Viewscapes are very wrong that were produced for 230 and 260 Golf Course Rd..

Gordon also indicated that water elevations are different between presented studies. Both 1041 Crooks Tract and 1129 Jigs Hollow Rd. have groundwater elevations several metres different. This also speaks to the 30 year average rainfall in the area compared to the rainfall in the 2010-2015 period. The last five years has seen just barely half of the normal rainfall yet the groundwater levels have risen a couple of metres or so. Clearly something was amiss with the readings back in 2010. Gordon also indicated the elevations of wells on Peel St., Jigs Hollow Rd. and the two drinking wells (C05, C06) supplying the Golf Course Rd. subdivision in Conestogo and just a few hundred metres away from this gravel pit. All of them are around 300 metres above sea level which also corresponds to the elevation near the bottom of the deep lake proposed for the gravel pit. Mr. Haywood then asked the question as to whether or not Preston Sand & Gravel, contrary to their claims, were actually going to be extracting sand and gravel from the deep overburden aquifer which supplies nearby drinking wells. His second last comment was in regards to the Dahm Gravel Pit berm failure in 2013 and the resulting massive fish kill. His final comment was that the Hunder Pit decision outside Conestogo denied a gravel pit license due to the proponent's plan to replace Class 1 soils with a lower designation of soil quality. In the Jigs Hollow case the proponent wants to replace the highest agricultural soils classification with a water filled hole in the ground and call it a lake. This is unacceptable for many reasons and the soils degradation is but one.

Further comments from this meeting last night will come tomorrow.

P.S. "Rain" in the title is not misspelled (ie. reign). It refers to the facts and truth being rained down upon the proponents.