SO WHY ATTEND THE MAPS AND POSTERS BUT NOT STAY FOR THE WHOLE DOG & PONY SHOW AT LIONS HALL WEDNESDAY EVENING?

 

Well first of all a map or a picture is worth a thousand words. Secondly I did speak briefly to a Woolwich  planning? staff person as well as to councillor Schwindt. I also talked to a couple of laypersons i.e. citizens. Besides that I also attended another Region of Waterloo Dog & Pony show about a year ago on the same topic and was not impressed then either. Basically the powers that be who have made theses decisions years to decades ago want to bury Uniroyal Chemical's east side contamination  under the new proposed road (i.e. By-Pass) and pretend it never happened. This also pleases Lanxess Canada mightily. As far as the in stream and downstream wildlife are concerned they do not vote and to a corporation are less than nothing. Unfortunately this may also be the case with the downstream Old Order Mennonite farmers and families all the way to the Grand River and further.

Words are unlikely to fix a self-serving, intentionally nasty decision.  It is beyond disgraceful and shameful to even consider burying this east side contamination. It is also highly disrespectful of the local residents, in town and along the Creek, who want to see their devastated Creek cleaned up. I would never have imagined the stupidity and short sightedness of supposedly intelligent people who take bad advice from powerful persons in gross conflict of interest positions. 

 I expect that I that an appeal may occur around these asinine decisions. Simple attendance at public meetings may or may not make the difference in granting that appeal. It is of course unfortunate when all political groups and parties via private meetings and collusion have come to the same decision allegedly for the sake of public calm and complacency. I wonder how always increasing distrust and contempt of our governments is helping the public stay calm and complacent.

JUST ONE MORE DOG & PONY SHOW LAST EVENING AT LIONS HALL?

 

Lots of maps and data posted on the walls. Lots of helpful? staff including Woolwich & Regional folks. I talked to a few people including one councillor, one staff person, one TRAC member and I confirmed that indeed whatever it's called from Alternative # 2 to Option 2 A or B it's a piece of crap at it's absolute worst regardless. 

The west side option is my first choice with the Union St. option up the east side of Elmira being second. The proposed new road running a little further east than Union St. and running through the Stroh and Martin farms is beyond disgraceful. The councillor I spoke with asked me the question whether they could start development and somehow/sort of clean up as they proceeded. I believe it was a sincere and serious question however I just wasn't in the mood for any more Woolwich nonsense regarding avoiding proper Uniroyal cleanup. Thirty-six years of lies and bullsh*t will do that to a person. I bluntly advised that putting the cart before the horse does not work. Investigate/sample and make a cleanup plan FIRST not either halfway through or at the end of the roadwork and development work required. 

Plus I have seen way too many alleged cleanups by Uniroyal, Crompton, Chemtura AND Lanxess that are simply window dressing. I have seen and heard too many lies by all parties especially the MECP (Min. of Environment). It's way past time to bring in someone knowledgeable, intelligent and for the love of God HONEST! After the chats and looking at the posters I left before the 7:30 pm. "presentation" . Bullsh*t no matter how strong the masking perfume is still BULLSH*T.

TOPOGRAOHY TOPOGRAPHY & MORE TOPOGRAPHY !!!!!!!!

 

Topography:    "a description of all the surface features, natural and artificial, of a particular region".  Also

                "the science of drawing maps and/or diagrams which represent these features ".

So what is so difficult for our so called educated councillors, consultants, Ministry of Environment, experts and others in positions of authority to understand? Why are they ignoring the most obvious evidence of gravity flowing, toxic liquid wastes having overflowed from the east side pits (RPE 1-5) onto the Stroh property for almost the whole length of the Uniroyal/Lanxess east side property line? These same biased and apparently blind persons have already admitted to overflow crossing from Uniroyal Chemical eastwards onto the Stroh property and done a minor excavation (15 cm. or 5.9 inches deep) and removed DDT and Dioxins in the soil in 2019, fifty years after the ending of the overflowing east side pits. This overflowing was based upon approximately 165,000 gallons per day of liquid wastes being pumped through two pipelines over to these open to the sky, pits. Plus without a cover over them simple rainstorms would help overflow these pits. Finally Uniroyal, the MECP and Lanxess have all admitted that the pits did indeed overflow and run southwards and eastwards. 

The answer to Why? is unfortunate. It's called corruption and being a "captured" regulator. The Ontario Ministry of Environment (MECP) shares guilt and culpability with Uniroyal Chemical. The former M.O.E. made deals not in the public interest decades ago (1950s-1980s) with Uniroyal Chemical. They were afraid to fight them in court because Uniroyal had a larger legal budget than they did. Yes folks that is the reality of government enforcement of laws against wealthy multinational corporations.

The drawing of maps and/or diagrams as stated in the second line above refers to topographical contour lines. These lines show both the big picture of ground surface elevations as well as smaller areas of either depressions or higher ground. The big picture is demonstrated by contour lines that indicate where the ground elevation changes, either rising or falling. Liquids of course gravity flow from higher ground towards lower ground. Apparently self-interested and self-serving polluters, politicians and corrupt regulators are incapable of reading and understanding these quite simple maps. Or so they would have us believe. 

THE ISSUE WITH ALTERNATIVE #2 FOR THE ELMIRA BY-PASS

 

First of all at the moment I believe that Alternative #2 is the one that starts at the very south end of Elmira and swings east and then north running upwards towards Uniroyal/Lanxess although on the east side of the Uniroyal/Lanxess property line with the Stroh farm. .  Now of course the Region or anybody else with influence can change these Alternative numbers at will or even alter the routes at will. We the people have only token opportunities to even express our opinions much less have any power whatsoever to make real changes.

The issue for this Alternative is that part or all of the new roadway will be built on contaminated lands. They are of course contaminated by Uniroyal Chemical and like much of their contamination whether on or off site they have done their best to scope it and minimize it from day one. One example is their denial for decades that any DNAPLS (Dense Non Aqueous Phase Liquids) existed off their site . A little over a year ago they admitted to the DNAPL that ended up beside the Howard St. Water Tower in the Minutes of a September 2024 TRAC meeting. They also have denied that Uniroyal toxic liquids flowed onto the Stroh property for years until they did some 5.9 inches (15 cm.) excavations on the west side of the Stroh property in 2019 and removed some DDT and Dioxins. They also did a very few sediment test samples in the Stroh Drain and found Dioxins thirty times higher than the federal health standard. Nothing however was removed.

Without or until a proper and honest investigation of both the Stroh and Martin properties occurs there is no sure way of knowing exactly how serious this contamination is. The companies 36 year history of  manipulating and massaging any and all data to support their position has been disgraceful. Their failure to achieve the mandated cleanup of Elmira's groundwater also does not give one confidence that they are on top of things.  Leaving these toxins behind will simply guarantee the continued ongoing migration of them both downstream in the Canagagigue Creek and further into the Grand River. Why do we keep giving the corporate polluters and their toothless regulator (MECP) opportunity after opportunity to continue their pretend cleanup?

THERE IS A PUBLIC MEETING THIS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29/25 AT 7 pm. IN LION'S HALL

 

Ostensibly it is to give the public an opportunity to comment on which option of four that they prefer for the Elmira By-Pass. There are three options for the east side and one for the west side. In reality the Region and the Township have made this decision years ago and are merely going through the motions of public consultation. It is fairly easy to persuade that public opinion to go your way when you are in control of the data, the information as well as being in charge of the process from start to finish. Any contrary speakers to their preferred option of the east side including the Stroh and Martin farms will most likely be given short shrift with the microphone. At best one or two speakers might tell the public about the highly contaminated Canagagigue Creek but they will be drowned out by a dozen or more supporters of an east side By-Pass. Similarly comments about the Stroh Drain, Ditch & Berm's (SDDB)  contamination is only known by a few folks as our local media have been a little reluctant to criticize either Lanxess or the Ministry of Environment the last several years.

SEPTEMBER 2025 PROGRESS REPORT INDICATIVE OF WHAT"S WRONG WITH THE CLEANUP

 

The total off-site pumping is around 63 litres per second which historically is a pretty good pumping rate. Pretty good however does not confirm or clarify Chemtura's claim and promises to CPAC back in November 2012 that they would Triple the off-site pumping in order to achieve drinking water standards by 2028. Now of course they've never even come close to those pumping volumes which is only part of the reason that their "cleanup" has failed. This is the people in charge literally renewing their promises year after year that they were going to achieve drinking water standards by 2028. They quit their bragging/lying maybe eight years ago after twenty years of off-site pumping and five or six years after their promises to vastly increase that pumping. Complete liars yet oddly (or not) neither the Ministry of Environment nor Woolwich Township have ever publicly called them on it.

At the same time this month as they are increasing off-site pumping they continue to under pump their on-site wells. The Target pumping rate for PW4 and PW5 was 4.7 litres per second combined. This month as it has been for the last few years the pumping has been reduced to 3.8 to 4.0 l/sec. Apparently replacing pumping well PW5 with new pumping well PW6 has magically reduced how much on-site pumping is required to combat the lower gradients off-site from drawing and overpowering the on-site pumping wells. This "magic" is unexplained as it generally has been for the last 36 years when the polluter is gilding the lily for self=serving reasons.

ARE THE MEDIA PART OF THE ELMIRA PROBLEM AS WELL?

 

Both the Woolwich Observer and the Waterloo Region Record published stories about the proposed Elmira By-Pass yesterday. The Observer included four tiny maps of which the three depicting the three options on the east side of Elmira were indecipherable to me. The one on the west side was legible because it is so simple. At the south end of Elmira when heading north turn left (west) onto the Listowel By-Pass . Continue west until you hit Floradale Rd. and turn right (north) and continue through the round about at Church St. further north to Reid Woods Drive. Turn right (east) and proceed straight across to Arthur St. Bang you have by=passed Elmira. The gravel base of the roads are already in place plus there are no floodplains or major waterways to cross. there is already a concrete bridge across the Canagagigue on Reid Woods Dr. There are also no buildings or other encroachments along the way. This is a much easier route than the east side of Elmira where annual heavy flooding takes place. 

Road rightaways are already established on the west side. They are not on large parts of the east side. It appears to some of us that half the reason for the east side By-Pass is to bury the legacy of mishandling and negligence resulting in DDT, Dioxins, PAHs, mercury and PCBs in the floodplains, creekbank soils and sediments in the bottom of the Creek. None of these dangerous toxins are on the west side of Elmira but in order to save both Uniroyal/Lanxess and our governments cleanup money they are going to continue their deceptive practices by pretending without proper scientific rigour that the area is not grossly contaminated. Shame on all of them.