FOLLOWUP ON THE STINK IN PRESTON NEIGHBOURHOOD

The Cambridge Times had a Letter to the Editor published last Wednesday in response to an earlier article in the Times about odours coming from a company called Team Reclamation located at 1574 Eagle St. in Preston. I presume that the original Cambridge Times article is the same one that the Waterloo Region Record published last Wednesday and to which I have a link to in my Wednesday post here in the Elmira Advocate.

The title of the Opinion piece in last Wednesday's Cambridge Times is "No satisfaction for neighbours of Preston industrial cleaning business". It was written by Thomas Vann of Cambridge, a very community involved and active person. Mr. Vann has a file on this company and their contributions to the community's air that is nine years old. In 2016 he received a promise from the then manager, Mark, that the company would not use the thermal ovens when the wind blows in his street's direction. Besides the thermal ovens the company also uses chemical stripping. I personally would be surprised if this did not include the use of harsh and strong solvents such as TCE or TCA the compounds implicated in the Bishop St. community disaster.

Mr. Vann has contacted his municipal councillor Donna Reid and gotten nowhere with her. I am not shocked at that. Quoting Mr. Vann "There have been times the odour was so strong you could feel burning in your eyes and lungs". Furthermore "Our family had to leave our home and neighbours shut their windows. Swimming pools had a brown layer of film on them and cars had brown stains on them. I wondered what it did to people, pets, hanging laundry and vegetable gardens in the area?".

Mr. Vann does have praise for M.P.P. Belinda Karahalios whom he spoke to and since then there have been improvements in the air quality. The head honcho at Team Reclamation is now a Mr. Glen Smith. Mr. Vann has invited Mr. Smith to meet with him and show that he is sincere in his concerns for the community.

These symptoms Mr. Vann has described along with the nature of the business are both of health concerns as well as disrupting people's normal enjoyment of their properties. These actions and ensuing results as described are totally illegal. Our pathetic judicial system and police or Ministry of Environment enforcement are next to useless in cases like this and irresponsible corporations and owners/managers take full advantage.

MORE MOE IMPOTENCE ON DISPLAY?

Today's Waterloo Region Record carries the following story titled "Residents raise a stink about odour in Preston". This article actually appears to be taken from the Cambridge Times newspaper and their reporter Bill Doucet. Here are my hard earned insights regarding the MOE, air polluters, and either public nuisance or public health threats from air emissions.

1. The MOE and the polluter will lie to the public about anything and everything.

2. Neither of those parties usually give a fig about public health including the health of children and other highly susceptible individuals to unhealthy or toxic air.

3. They care about politics and money first, second, third, fourth, fifth etc.

4. Go back to 1. and reread the first three insights.


One of my favourite lies in Elmira was that it's only an odour or a smell. It can't be toxic. This article has a number of questionable statements from the company involved. For example after thirty years involvement in Elmira air and water issues I've never heard of "nitrate of water vapour". That is either an error by the reporter or bulls... from the company. We are advised that the company does paint stripping and that "ovens are used in the stripping process" with hot gases being discharged into the air. Well paint itself has been toxic for decades granted the "carrier" of the pigments used to be highly volatile and toxic solvents. Latex paint is much safer however without a formal analysis who knows what kind of paint they are stripping and or even whether the stripped paint is released as particulates into the air which is very unhealthy.

Whatever is being discharged, residents are being exposed to it whether or not they can smell it. Human smell is not particularly sensitive and hence unhealthy levels can sometimes not be smelled by most people. The company also does "hook cleaning" whatever that might be. They state that they remove all coatings. Again what exactly are the coatings? There are resins, paints, stains, and all kinds of possible toxic compounds that may be involved. If the company has absolutely nothing to hide then distribute a list of all compounds they use or handle within their facility to the public.