HAWK RIDGE HOMES PUBLIC MEETING IN COUNCIL CHAMBERS LAST EVENING

There were seven local citizens who spoke at last evening's public meeting including myself. Susan Bryant raised the excellent point that Hawk Ridge Homes have basically ignored and avoided all the health and safety issues in regards to the location of their proposed subdivision across Union St. from Sulco (Canada Colours) and Lanxess (Uniroyal).

I spoke to the long history of air, ground and surface water, and soil contamination both on and off the Uniroyal site. I also mentioned some horrific chemicals that they have used and poorly disposed of on their site over the decades including NDMA, DDT, Agent Orange and accompanying dioxins, lindane, parathion, and solvents en masse. All of these and more are now both on and off their site continuing to this day and likely forever contaminating the natural environment.

Pat Mclean mentioned that local developers have had zero interest in this site because they know of its history and hence these current developers will build, collect money and then get out of town. Interesting point.

Sandra Baer, former CPAC member and apparently now an APT member, spoke to buffer zones and how there was supposed to be no sensitive uses (residential) of the land within appropriate safety distances from chemical companies.

Stephanie Gertz is a Green Party candidate and she spoke to green infrastructure and how this proposed subdivision was not following green principles for sustainability etc.

Murray Haight was very concerned with buffers around the chemical companies. He wanted to know what the current buffer distance was supposed to be and he asked whether a Risk Assessment for this proposed subdivision had been completed.

Lastly Vivienne Delaney mentioned that currently there are massive trucks running along Union St. in Elmira. These trucks end up on Duke St. and Church St. where they make noise, pollute the air and clog traffic. She feels that more residential homes along Union St. will only exacerbate the problems as well as the new residents will not know ahead of time as to how people and child unfriendly Union St. is with all the heavy traffic on it.

Dan Kennally of Woolwich Township started the public meeting with a brief history of the multiple attempts to rezone and develop this former apple orchard. Councillor Merlihan mentioned the frustration of citizens coming back multiple times to speak to this issue and he asked if there was a limit to how many times developers can keep coming bacl. Councillor Merlihan also criticized the claim by the representative for Hawk Ridge Homes when she suggested that the new homes would be complimentary with the current older subdivision on College and Bauman St.

Councillor Larry Shantz briefly referenced the "kill zone" wondering if and when a new "Worst Case Scenario" was coming from Lanxess Canada as their old one for Anhydrous Ammonia was out of date. All in all it is obvious that the community are not remotely in support of this new housing location and neither is Sulco (Canada Colours) as per their written submission. Oddly there was no sign of Lanxess Canada this time around which has me somewhat concerned that perhaps some kind of sweetheart deal has been privately arranged. Very strange.

"A WATER PISTOL IN A THUNDERSTORM" - I THINK NOT

Put differently the construct between the Ontario MOE and Uniroyal Chemical was that Uniroyal were the sole source of NDMA, chlorobenzene and other contaminants within the Elmira aquifer systems. They of course were not the sole source for either one however in exchange for an Indemnity as well as other considerations in their October 7, 1991 Settlement Agreement, Uniroyal so agreed. The MOE were also able to pretend that they simply missed that tricky devil NDMA and it slipped off the Uniroyal site and migrated at the speed of light (O.K. a little less) sixteen hundred metres south-west to Elmira's south wellfield before they found it.

Exhibit "I" dated January 27, 1990 at the Environmental Appeal Board (EAB) is a document from Uniroyal Chemical Research Laboratories in Guelph, Ontario. The title of the document is "N-Nitrosodimethylamine Contamination of Ground Water: A Literature Survey". This document states that there are three known sources for human exposure to NDMA. They are NDMA contained in food and beverages, airborne NDMA from for example leather and rubber/tire industries and thirdly endogenous and exogenous formation of NDMA.

This third source means NDMA can be spontaneously produced within the human body (endogenous) based upon diet and certain foods AND it can be produced spontaneously in Nature (exogenous). This spontaneous production in nature is based upon a precursor such as dimethylamine (DMA) being released into the natural environment combining with nitrates or nitrites already in the soil. An acidic soil environment is also helpful. Page 4, number 4. of this report is titled "NDMA In Ground Waters Of Agricultural Lands: Potential Sources."

Quoting from 4. "While the presence of most of these requirements needs no justification, as is the case with nitrate or nitrite, acidity, microorganisms, or photochemical energy, the question of the availability of the organic material, DMA, or a precursor of this substance, still needs to be addressed. In the absence of a direct emitter one must still seek a source capable of delivering large amounts of DMA (or NDMA) to the environment."

All of these natural requirements already exist in large parts of both Elmira and immediate surrounding areas. The Varnicolor Chemical location formerly had been a large scale pig farm. The direct emitter of NDMA certainly was Uniroyal. A direct emitter of DMA however was a few hundred metres closer to the south wellfield and that was Varnicolor Chemical. That company directly emitted dimethylamine (DMA) as well as its waste waters into the sub-surface natural environment via a floor drain and buried tanker into the outside yard. CH2M HILL, consultants to the Region of Waterloo have so stated in their 1990 and 1991 review of potential NDMA sources. Dimethylamiine was used by Varnicolor as a commercial can coating for corrosion inhibiting purposes. Other sources have also confirmed this and yours truly saw a barrel of Dimethylamine with his own eyes at Varnicolor Chemical when I worked there in the late 1980's.

The title at the top of this posting is a quote from MOE lawyer Stan Berger. He was trying to minimize the extent of Varnicolor's contribution to the destruction of the Elmira aquifers at the EAB hearings. Uniroyal prior to their Settlement Agreement and Indemnity in October 1991 produced this technical document as an exhibit to show the likelihood of other NDMA sources to the Elmira aquifers. They did not specifically name either Nutrite for their ammonia contributions nor Varnicolor for their multiple contributions including NDMA. The MOE covered this up in order to keep Uniroyal Chemical and their huge financial resources on the hook for cleanup costs. The Region and other parties also aided this coverup of Varnicolor, Nutrite and other contributors for self-serving reasons.

ON-LINE COMMENTS REGARDING HAWK RIDGE HOMES PROPOSAL

If one googles the "Woolwich Township" website and then clicks on Mayor and Council one can then scroll down the screen and see upcoming council and other meetings. Clicking on the council meeting for tomorrow's council meeting will bring up the Agenda and council package for the whole meeting. There are a number of other topics besides Hawk Ridge including a presentation by TAG Chair Tiffany Svensson.

Check out both the Township Staff introduction to the zone change application as well as a number of comments by different citizens from past public meetings on this matter. Yours truly had his delegation reduced to about five lines in the Minutes whereas others literally have pages after pages. Par for the course. Regardless, the comments are all worth reading and thinking about.

There is no good reason behind the location of this proposed subdivision other than private interests making money on the backs of the financially tight and unknowing citizens who will purchase these units. This is exactly what our governments tax the daylights out of us for. Allegedly they are taxing us in order to get efficiencies of scale and be better able to protect us from either the unscrupulous or worse. The reality however is that our governments are in bed with the unscrupulous and even sometimes with high end law breakers. Our governments at all levels are looking out for the divine right of the wealthy and powerful to steal even more money from the middle and lower classes. Whether this is done via internet, telephone, real estate etc. it is preying upon the most vulnerable.It is nothing more than a form of legal parasitism.

THE OUTRAGEOUS SHAME OF THE ONGOING SAGA OF HAWK RIDGE HOMES

Is the third time the charm? Why would Hawk Ridge Homes even try a third time to get a zoning change and planning approval for their proposed residential housing units across from Sulco (CCC) and Lanxess (Uniroyal) on Union St. in Elmira? The neophyte might suggest because they believe that they have adequately addressed the noise issue that scuppered them in front of the OMB several years back. A skeptic however (none of those nearby???) might suggest that the proponents of this development have an ace in the hole. Perhaps they've made private arrangements ahead of time to increase the likelihood of getting this project to finally proceed despite it neither being in the public interest nor the interest of future buyers of their homes. It is of course in the money making interests of the developers as it always is first and foremost.

The on-line Council package for this Tuesday's council meeting is an eye opener. Many of the past written and verbal comments in opposition to this proposed subdivision are included including my own. To say that the proposal has been an incredibly brassy, narrow sighted and self-serving plan thoroughly blinkered from reality is an understatement. The focus was and is on noise complaints rather than on life and death concerns when locating beside a chemical giant with a history of spills, fires, explosions and fugitive air releases of highly toxic chemicals. It is an abomination and I smell a huge rat albeit not the first nor the last time in Woolwich Township.

RAMIFICATIONS OF YESTERDAY'S BOLENDER PARK LANDFILL MAP AND POSTING

Do I think that the Ontario MOE are any more competent or honest than the brain trust running Woolwich Township? Of course not. Therefore the MOE's 1979 map showing the former municipal landfill completely within the current park's borders may be 100% accurate, 50% accurate or even possibly zero % accurate. My best guess is that both parties oscillate between beyond comprehension incompetent and pathologically dishonest. That said even a broken clock is right twice a day. Hence I have learned not to automatically dismiss every word out of their mouths as being a lie. Sometimes whetehr through good luck or good management they do get it right. the trick is knowing when that is.

How can we totally dismiss the landfill being further north running parallel to the Trans Canada Trail (former train tracks) and ending eastwards somewhere near the dead end of High St.? Not only have excavations close to the wrecking yard turned up garbage but there are decades worth of methane monitoring results in this further north area. True methane can and does migrate but wouldn't that be an absolute hoot if in fact Woolwich Township have been intentionally monitoring the wrong area for methane possibly in order to continue to hide the reality of buried garbage (or worse) further south in the park itself.

How bright are Woolwich staff and council going to look if they permitted (actually insisted upon) the construction of the children's splash pad in a playground with garbage and hence methane in it? How much worse are they going to look if as yesterday's map indicates, the splashpad and other childrens' amenities are built on top of Uniroyal Chemical's toxic wastes? Hoo boy I know they can guild the lily but really this is bad.

The likelihood is that some staff and some councillors knew the truth all along and simply pretended otherwise to their colleagues. Therefore some of the councillors voted in favour of the splashpad without full knowledge. They also voted in favour of not looking deeper into the methane irregularities and blatant unprofessional studies of the methane problem that I presented to them repeatedly in 2017 and early 2018.

There is local testimony that garbage was placed in the Park. There is also a soil study prior to the splashpad construction which identified "organics" in all the boreholes. "Organics" simply means rotting or decayed foodstuffs mixed in with the soil. Other reports besides this most recent MOE report have identified the Bolender Park Landfill as being a repository of Uniroyal (and likely Varnicolor Chemical) wastes. Lastly why do you think there are groundwater monitoring wells in and around the park itself? It's because Conestoga Rovers, Uniroyal's consultants, were hired to study both the Bolender Landfill and the First St. Landfill way back in the 1980s. Of course both the MOE and the Township have never let local environmentalists and citizens see those two studies. Guess why that is folks?

LIARS LIE & DECEIVERS DECEIVE

It's what they do. Check out the above picture. This was part of an exhibit at the 1991 Environmental Appeal Board hearing in Elmira regarding Uniroyal Chemical. It clearly shows this 1979 map of the Bolender Park Landfill being surprise/surprise in Bolender Park. Wow! It seems as if the Township may have sent nearby residents an incorrect map a couple of years ago when they were trying to convince them that they were not at risk from escaping methane gas. I wonder what else they may have misinformed residents about.

SMILE, BE HAPPY, ALL IS WELL IN THE WORLD

The good news queens (MOE) are telling the public that there is no evidence that there will be long-term or ongoing effects to to Mill Creek or Shades Mills reservoir from the 50,000 litre spill of jet fuel last January. These of course are the same folks who brought us the good news about Elmira drinking water being protected from Uniroyal Chemical, Northstar Aerospace and the Bishop St. community in Cambridge, Safety-Kleen and the shutdown of nearby drinking wells K70 and K71, oh and of course that Varnicolor Chemical also in Elmira had not spread its contamination to its neighbours (false) or to the municipal drinking water aquifers (false). You the readers decide how much credibility the MOE has.

Within the article in today's Waterloo Region Record titled "No long-term impact expected from Mill Creek fuel spill, ministry says", there are some inconsistencies. For example four months after the spill "...consultants working on the remediation project continue to observe and document sheen on the water, jet fuel odour and impacted wildlife." A paragraph later and the GRCA representative states that "To date there has not been any jet-fuel impact to wildlife." Strange. Also the MOE are advising that they do not expect an ongoing unacceptable risk to fish or the downstream fishery. Then several paragraphs later the article states that the MOE have started a fish study in Mill Creek. So are we to understand that the MOE commissioned the study already knowing what the results of it are going to be? That would be typical junk science in accordance with what we've had in Elmira, Ontario over the last three decades.

Maybe both the public and the natural environment have been spared the worst ravages of a 50,000 litre jet-fuel spill into a creek. Maybe the MOE and the GRCA have given this spill the Cadillac cleanup that they promise us with every environmental cleanup. Maybe Santa Claus and the Easter bunny are both real. Stranger things have happened, just not very often.