BACK TO THE UNIROYAL/CHEMTURA etc. PAST

The July 20, 2006 K-W Record carried the following story titled "Fire at Crompton". It mentioned the fire of the previous evening that broke out at a building on the Crompton site. Residents returning to town were directed to a staging area at the price Choppers on Arthur St. until officials were certain that it was safe to enter the area. Also the residents of Pilgrim's Provident Retirement Home were evacuated by Grand River buses.

Ron Ormson of the Crompton Public Advisory Committee sent a Letter To The Editor of the Elmira Independent asking why the Community Alert Network (CAN) telephone warning system had not been activated. He also advised that this latest fire and explosion comes much too soon after the last major fire and explosion in June 2004 when a wastewater tank exploded. Ron felt that Woolwich township officials had failed to activate the warning system on a timely basis. There had also been a small fire in March of that year (2006).

"Several residents from the homes being cleaned up in Cambridge attended the monthly CPAC meeting...." The topic of the CPAC meeting was DNAPLS (Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids) and in Cambridge the authorities are using a system called ISCO or In-Situ Chemical Oxidation. I asked why it wasn't being used in Elmira at this 2006 meeting and received varying responses. ironically ISCO is now and for the last few years on both the company's and the Ministry of Environment's radar for use on our contaminated aquifers.

Both Wilf Ruland and Jaimie Connolly of the M.O.E. spoke to the longterm nature of the DNAPL issue at the Crompton site. They also suggested that further on-site source removal of DNAPLS was likely necessary for improvement. Hydraulic containment alone would not do the job. Surprise, surprise to this date the vast majority of those sub-surface DNAPLS are still on-site and slowly dissolving into the groundwater. Some areas in the south-west corner are mostly contained whereas the shallow DNAPLS in the rest of the site are not. This includes the whole east side where DNAPL contaminated shallow groundwater continues to flow off-site.

The last item of note refers to an Elmira Independent opinion titled "The hidden danger of microwaves" written by Chuck Keupfer on May 4, 2007. Chuck talks about Diacetyl long manufactured here in Elmira and how it has produced "popcorn lung". Shortly after lawsuits and more started south of the border, Crompton suddenly ceased production here in Elmira. The odour of this butter flavouring could often be smelled around town and folks thought that it was not harmful. They were wrong as it has caused severe and irreversible lung damage in workers using the chemical. Just one more case of "Better living through Chemistry" apparently.

LANXESS "WALK SOFTLY BUT CARRY A BIG STICK" - THE ATTEMPTED MURDER OF A DOCUMENTARY

It's taken a relatively short while to take the measure of Lanxess. The public and public interest have never been served by any of Lanxess's predecessors nor is it being remotely served now. True a corporation exists to serve it's shareholders allegedly. Or at least it's supposed to. I suppose sometimes it actually serves it's management team or its' majority shareholders versus all its' shareholders. Such is the human condition when most people have power or authority. They abuse it.

Corporations however are supposed to be working within the confines of the laws of the land. Laws that are sometimes more about appearance than substance however have been bent, distorted and ultimately broken by Uniroyal Chemical, Crompton, Chemtura and now it appears Lanxess. Again it's all about abuse of power. They've got it and money in spades and they seem intent on exercising it for their benefit and subsequently to the detriment of the public. Keep in mind they came into the purchase of Chemtura with their eyes wide open. Besides doing their normal due diligence regarding Chemtura, they were also on my Blog, the Elmira Advocate, reading about Chemtura prior to the finalization of their purchase.

Two k-W residents have been working on a Documentary about the Elmira Crisis for at least the last five years. Their Documentary is complete albeit it has both a longer and a shorter version. I have viewed them and have a preference for one over the other. Bonita Wagler and Michael Heitmann have sunk a big piece of their lives into this effort and they have made a concerted attempt to present both sides of the story. Some in the community, including me on occasion, do not much care for giving what I view as professional liars further opportunities to do just that. In order however for them to include commentary, opinions and responses of Chemtura, the M.O.E. and other fellow travellors and co-opted individuals; Michael and Bonita had to promise a balanced approach, a fair to all sides approach. They did that.

Now after purchasing Chemtura, Lanxess have rescinded their approval of the participation of Jeff Merriman, Chemtura's consumate mouthpiece and environmental engineer. Frankly I thought that Jeff had too much time and input in the Documentary. He gives the company far more credibility as well as excuses than they deserve. Nevertheless Lanxess are flexing their muscles and are inhibiting the presentation of this Documentary to the public. They are using their power and influence inappropriately and once again the public are the losers. Good to know exactly what kind of a company we are again having to deal with here in Elmira.

I suspect that Lanxess have but two possible opinions regarding the likelihood that the Stroh Drain area is a "sink" for Persistent Organic Pollutants such as Dioxins, DDT, PCBs and much more. One opinion is that they know very well in their hearts and minds that the area is an environmental disaster slowly and inexorably releasing and transporting these toxic compounds into the air, ground and surface water, soils and sediments further downstream. They know that both human beings as well as wildlife from above ground predators to lowly benthic communities within the creek itself have and are suffering because of the contamination. Their motivation for lying about it is simple money and not spending huge sums of it for the public good rather than for their own.

The second opinion is that due to their own soil and more testing which they've kept to themselves, they know full well that their liquid wastes did not flow into this low lying area. I do not know how that is possible but what I do know is that consecutive reincarnations of this company have all lied to the public about their site and its' contaminants. Therefore I have to ask if Lanxess or Chemtura have serious knowledge or evidence that their liquid wastes have not been carried either intentionally or unintentionally onto the Stroh property in bulk then why haven't they produced this credible evidence? To date they've given us unsubstantiated words and opinions. Frankly most of their "explanations" have been obvious hot air. Are they so petty that they'd rather not produce honest evidence that would clear them of the allegations of intentional dumping and diversion of toxic liquid wastes onto their neighbour's property? In other words do they feel so unaccountable to the public and the law that they are actually sticking their middle fingers up in the air and saying "Make me!"? Are they actually revelling in their lack of need to defend themselves and their apparent abhorrent behaviour? Perhaps their confidence is at least partially based upon having the Ontario Ministry of Environment grovelling at their feet.

CORRUPTION EXPLODES IN WOOLWICH

Yesterday afternoon in Woolwich Council Chambers yet again democracy was perverted and our local world class polluter lied and manipulated to avoid having to investigate and clean up the Stroh Drain. It's also all about hit and run public meetings now with RAC and TAG. No longer are TAG meetings every month or two. The last RAC meetings were in March and April of this year preceded by last September (2017) with the next one scheduled for this September (2018). TAG's next meeting is tentatively scheduled for next October unless bodies can be convinced to come out in the summer (July or August). This is a contemptible disgrace. This is on Sandy Shantz and Mark Bauman and their attack on and removal of CPAC members in 2015 to be replaced by their "cringeworthy" creations of RAC and TAG. Even with many good members on TAG, reducing their meetings like this will kill their ability to even attempt to hold Lanxess accountable through RAC which is a complete joke. Again no sign of the Region of Waterloo's presence at yesterday's RAC meeting. They know a phony committee when they see one.

Two local attendees spoke out against Lanxess running and hiding from testing the Stroh Drain area. That was Mark Bauman privately at the end of the meeting to me and Sebastian and Susan Bryant publicly asking Ramin Ansari of Lanxess whether Lanxess would test the Stroh Drain sediments or soils. Ramin said no they would not. His excuse was the Mickey Mouse surficial (15 cm/6 inches) soil testing up along the Lanxess/Stroh border which allegedly had its' concentrations decrease sharply as the sampling moved a few metres eastwards. Furthermore the grand total of two samples again allegedly were below the criteria for DDT and Dioxins in the "Gap" area. A liar is a liar and a manipulator/deceiver will always find a way to do just that. A lack of ethics and honesty as demonstrated for decades by the partners in pollution has made me no longer even have faith in the honesty of their sampling. Afterall when another immoral and unethical party is the "witness" to their sampling, what does that prove?

Speaking of an immoral and unethical party, the Ontario Ministry of Environment rolled over yet again. We were advised by Sebastian that the Ontario M.O.E. sent out a letter earlier this month telling Lanxess that they needed to do soil sampling around the Stroh Drain. Yesterday afternoon Jason Rice of the M.O.E. reversed that position. Yes he said the M.O.E. would accept Lanxess's non testing. Keep in mind that at the last RAC meeting Mark Bauman did publicly tell Lanxess that he the RAC co-chair felt that this testing was necessary to put concerns to rest that this Drain could be transporting DDT and Dioxins into the Canagagigue Creek. While his logic is suspect it could possibly be interpreted as being a diplomatic way of getting Lanxess to do the right thing.

We have had three and a half years of intentional delay after the devastating exposure of Uniroyal/CRA/M.O.E. lying about the east side of the site and the flow of toxic contaminants onto the Stroh farm. The foxes in charge of the henhouse designed a Work Plan that suited their intention never to find out the truth about the Stroh Drain. They manipulated and orchestrated the removal of CPAC from their positions of Woolwich representatives in the cleanup. This was achieved through the efforts of Sandy Shantz and Mark Bauman. Allegedly Mark is retiring and not running again for council. Thank God as he is a manipulator of the first order. We at CPAC call him Mr. Flip Flop. Maybe he's for real regarding his expressed desire for Stroh Drain testing but more likely he is posturing simply to insulate his environmental credentials and his reputation after he leaves council. Good riddance to bad rubbish. The same goes for Susan Bryant. Hot and cold. Yesterday she seemed interested in testing the Stroh Drain. Previous meetings she wanted to get on with the superficial cleanup along the Stroh property line. Superficial cleanups are the specialty of this company and their fellow travellors.

RAC MEETING THIS AFTERNOON

The Remediation Advisory Committee meets this afternoon at 4 pm. in Woolwich Council Chambers. The 4 pm. time is very helpful in reducing the attendance of members of the public. After all it's during business hours. This is likely intentional. That said attendance is also diminished by the lack of media being present. In the good old days the Elmira Independent attended and reported on all UPAC (Uniroyal Public Advisory Committee) and CPAC public meetings. Kudos to the Independent (& Gail Martin) for their decades of public service. When the media doesn't report on these public meetings it sends the wrong message namely that they aren't important. When we have the most prolific polluter in Ontario (Chemtura/Lanxess) and their far too chummy regulator (MOECC) present together, along with the Grand River Conservation Authority, the Region of Waterloo, Woolwich Township etc.; it behooves local citizens to come out and learn. In fact one of the many things citizens could learn is how public consultation is not achieved. These august (in their own minds ) bodies will not accept questions from the unwashed masses. Oh no they like to pretend that only QPs need raise their voices in order to ask questions. QPs stands for Qualified Pricks I believe. Afterall if Sandy and her ilk can make up acronyms then so can I.

This afternoon's meeting will also have a couple of TAG members present plus the TAG (Technical Advisory Group) Chair, Tiffany Svensson. This is a good thing as TAG have been sending some good messages and recommendations to RAC. These include that soil testing still needs to be done in the area of the Stroh Drain as well as more in the area of the "Gap". TAG also have advised that the last couple of creek Bio-Monitoring results were inadequate due to cages of critters (leeches & clams) being washed downstream. TAG have also indicated support for a Sediment Transport Investigation being done. Finally TAG are awaiting a response from GHD/Lanxess as to why Table 2 criteria versus Table 8 (within 30 metres of a waterbody) criteria were not used. The Table 8 criteria is 7 parts per trillion (ppt) and the one sample in the Gap area was at 6.97 ppt.

Yours truly will be a Delegation to RAC and will speak in regards to the recent 2017 Canagagigue Creek Soils & Sediment Report. The public get to speak to them only (not TAG) whenever they meet which used to be four times/year but has been less recently.

GHD FAKERS - TWO SOIL SAMPLES IS A SHAM OF AN INVESTIGATION

Two samples does not a major investigation make. It doesn't even make a minor investigation. It is a typical example of past CRA junk science. It is how credentialed, ethically challenged, well paid human beings manipulate science for self-serving purposes. These were two composite soil samples spread over a large area. Even then both DDT and Dioxins/Furans were detected. Exactly how easy is it to fudge a composite soil sample? Allegedly they were taking these samples in a low lying area which likely served as the pathway for hundreds of thousands of gallons of Uniroyal's liquid wastes which were produced day in and day out. A major portion of sampling location SS20 is located on the high ground which is a wide diagonal swath of ground oriented in a north-west to south-east position. Liquids generally do not run uphill if they have an alternative. It is also likely that the solvent soaked liquid wastes penetrated into the lowlying ground and took the DDT compounds and Dioxins/Furans with them.

These ongoing discharges from Uniroyal's east side ponds ended a long time ago. More than four decades of weathering of surface soils has occurred. This includes wind, sun, rain, snow and literally major floods. This area other than the previously mentioned high diagonal stretch of ground is in the Floodplain of the Canagagigue Creek. How much of these surface DDTs and Dioxins have been transported either into the Stroh Drain or directly overland via major flood and back into the Canagagigue Creek? How much have penetrated deeply and are between one foot and ten feet below the ground surface? We do not know because the corrupt partners in pollution refuse to properly investigate. They are and always have abused the public trust and interest by being the foxes in charge of the hen house. The Ontario Ministry of Environment give them the veneer of respectability, of credibility, of honesty. At least that is among the woefully uninformed, the woefully ignorant, the most naive and finally amongst the most corrupt.

Some TAG members have suggested that the theory of flow being solely from west on the Chemtura/Lanxess site directly east onto the Stroh property is just that, a theory. It is just as likely that flow was from north-west to south-east across the property line. Or it could have been from west to east further north and then turned and flowed primarily southwards on the Stroh property. With the Stroh Drain running initially from north to south parallel to the Lanxess property line this seems like a strong possibility.

Even with composite soil samples averaging out the highest concentrations discovered, the TEQ or Toxic Equivalency of Dioxins/Furans was 6.97 from SS21 just north of SS20 and in the "Gap" area. The term "Gap" was coined as the area which GHD initially and intentionally avoided in their on-site soil sampling back in 2015. We had advised them repeatedly of our concerns in that area yet they still magically "forgot" to sample there while sampling both north and south of the area. To this day they have refused to sample in and around the Stroh Drain on the Stroh property which runs parallel to and within 20 metres of their property.

The 6.97 mathematically derived number is interesting. The criteria for Dioxins/Furans in soils is 13 parts per trillion (ppt). That is unless the soils are within 30 metres of a waterway. Enter the Stroh Drain. That puts the criteria in the "Gap" area as 7 ppt. not 13 ppt.. Keep in mind that the 6.97 number is a number of different soil samples mixed together and then tested. To end up at 6.97 means that some of these soils were below that number and others were ABOVE it! Also keep in mind that these were surface samples after decades of weathering and transport.

Lanxess, GHD and the Ontario M.O.E. are once again involved in a coverup. The Stroh Drain, the likely relocation of GP1 and the possible Interceptor Trench from the Lanxess site onto the Stroh property speak to out and out corruption. The refusal of all three parties to honestly, forthrightly and transparently do an honest investigation only reinforces these beliefs and suspicions.

POLLUTER PAYS IN ONTARIO: NOT BLOODY LIKELY

Today's on-line Waterloo Region Record carries the following story titled "Tax rebate to fund $8.6 M cleanup of former Kitchener Frame site". This story is a feel good story telling we citizens about a joint municipal-regional program that encourages both local development as well as remediation of contaminated sites. If a developer is willing to fund an up front cleanup of a contaminated site prior to redeveloping it for another use then the municipality and the Region will forgo the annual much higher taxes on the redeveloped property until the developer can recoup his out of pocket cleanup costs. On the face of it this is a win-win. The environment wins a cleanup and the city and Region eventually win more revenue. So what's the problem?

First off we are allegedly in a provincial jurisdiction that requires polluters (who've been caught) to pay for their damage to the natural environment. Remarkably one exception is if their contamination hasn't left their property. That is joke number one. You can't discharge solvents for example onto bare ground without some of them being volatilized and escaping the property as fumes to further pollute our already toxic air. Secondly as Dr. Gail Krantzberg advised CPAC nearly six years ago, a large amount of everything that Uniroyal spilled or dumped on their property eventually was transported either into the air, the groundwater or surface water where it escaped off-site.

Clearly this program rewards polluters who have managed to either sell or abandon their contaminated properties prior to being caught. Why isn't Budd, ThyssenKrupp or Kitchener Frame paying for this cleanup? The same goes for the former Deilcraft (Electrohome) site on Shanley St. in Kitchener. The list goes on.

Up here in Elmira we the taxpayers are still paying every year for 50% of the cleanup of the Elmira Aquifers courtesy of Uniroyal Chemical. The old Varnicolor Chemical site in Elmira was only partially remediated back in the mid 90s before being sold by Phillips Environmental. Initially the Ontario Ministry of Environment had insisted on a full cleanup of the site prior to Phillips buying it. Of course this was when the media and the public were breathing down the Ministry's neck. The owner after Phillips has been stuck managing and maintaining a pump and treat system and more for over fifteen years without the end in sight. Clearly the rules are far more subjective than objective.

The bottom line is this. Private citizens and taxpayers should not be paying to clean up messes caused by irresponsible or negligent companies. Most pollution is all about money. If a company can save money by holding their noses and looking the other way they will as long as the Ontario M.O.E.'s monitoring and enforcement are so perfunctory. These same irresponsible companies will do their best to externalize costs onto the backs of both taxpayers and the natural environment as long as they are allowed to get away with it. Unfortunately our major political parties are too deeply entrenched in bed with their corporate backers to actually put teeth into environmental legislation without including loopholes for these bad actors to avoid their responsibilities. For our past provincial Liberal and Progressive Conservative governments it's all about pretending to make Polluters Pay. Right now it's you and me paying for the negligence, often intentional, of major corporate polluters.

THE CREEK CLEANUP: THE USUAL CORRUPT PROCESS OR ARE THEY SIMPLY CHEAP?

The road ahead means going back to the past. Last Thursday TAG (Technical Advisory Group) members spoke clearly about source removal of DDT & Dioxin on the Lanxess property. The studies of the sediments and soils in and around the creek over the last six years have proven that DDT and its' metabolytes (DDD & DDE) along with Dioxins/Furans are still entering the Canagagigue Creek in Elmira, Ontario. With "normal" spring floods combined with more severe rainstorms throughout the year it has become even more obvious that these toxic chemicals are being "refreshed" on an ongoing basis. The scouring of the sediments in the bottom of the creek by the incredible hydraulic forces involved in a flood, transport soils, sands and gravel downstream along with the hydrophobic compounds attached to them.

There is but one ultimate source of these and so many other compounds and that is the former Uniroyal Chemical site now known as Lanxess. There have been attempts in the past to remediate/remove source areas along the creek on the Lanxess property. These occurred in the very early 2000s and culminated in 2005-2006 with the removal of part of a small island beside Uniroyal's south-west corner. Clearly the job is far from done. There are many other locations on the Lanxess property that citizen scientists as well as honest professionals have researched and found to be grossly contaminated. They were ignored by the good folks in charge of the clean up. That would be the Ministry of Errors and Corporate Collusion (MOECC) and their client Uniroyal/Crompton/Chemtura and now Lanxess.

There are also source zones off the Lanxess property which Lanxess/GHD/MOECC are doing their best to ignore. CPAC (Citizens Public Advisory Committee) took it to them in 2014 with both we citizen scientists as well as professionals in the field agreeing that a proper investigation was required on the Stroh property in and around the Stroh Drain. The partners in pollution did their best pretend investigation of the East Side from 2015-2018. They studiously and repeatedly avoided sampling where they were most likely to find problems. They studiously avoided consulting with the citizen scientists and professionals on CPAC who did the initial research and pointed MTE Consulting in the right direction. They are doing their usual end run around the facts and around the truth. This folks is corruption plain and simple and they are being protected by the MOECC. Local politicians are also running interference for them as usual.