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.