4 | NEWS
THE OBSERVER | SATURDAY, JULY 21, 2012
Poetry meets canoes in annual trek along the Grand Fish Quill Poetry Boat Tour will be making stops in Elmira, West Montrose on a trip that begins Aug. 9 elena maystruk The Fish Quill Poetry Boat Tour is paddling back to Grand River for an encore. Five poets and one
musician will embark on a 10-day tour of the river by canoe, setting up poetry readings along the way, including stops at the West Montrose covered bridge
and in and Elmira. The tour was founded in 2010 by poets Linda Besner and Leigh Kotsilidis. “Presses don’t often tour authors to smaller com-
Chemtura's Jeff Merriman on the portion of the Elmira site slated for a $2-million remediation project in the fall.
[colin dewar / the observer]
chemtura: Company satisfied with its efforts from | 3
understand that this is unrelated to our ongoing remediation of the aquifer and that the pits in question are not an ongoing threat for off-site contamination,” said Olejarz. “We are taking these steps to ensure the long-term containment of the site and safety of the immediate area.” The company has been using a pump-and-treat process to remove a pair of toxins – NDMA (nitrosodimethylamine) and chlorobenzene – from the former drinking water aquifers underneath Elmira. Discovery in 1989 of the carcinogenic NDMA precipitated a crisis in Elmira, leading to the construction of a pipeline
from Waterloo, which supplies the town with water to this day. In that case, too, Holt argues removal of source contaminants is required. While the groundwater issue is subject to ongoing Ministry of the Environment orders because the problem has spread beyond the Chemtura site, the issues with GP1 and GP2 are limited to company property, allowing for far fewer controls. With the aquifers, CPAC is also worried Chemtura’s actions are inadequate. The company is supposed to remediate the groundwater by 2028, bringing it back to drinking water standards. It’s pledged to meet that deadline, though both CPAC and Woolwich
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Township earlier this year formally called on the province to take a tougher stance, arguing the deadline can’t be met under current conditions. On that issue, the company acknowledges there have been problems with the pump-and-treat system, but says recent pumping rates have the treatment protocol back on track. Merriman said the process will meet the 2028 target, calling for critics to wait for the latest fiveyear review of the project, expected in September, before making any judgments. “That will give us a good picture of where we stand,” he said of the review and related computer modelling data.
munities so we decided to bring poetry to people rather than having people come to the big city. We thought a canoe would be kind of a quirky way to conduct a tour. Its also the main way a lot of transportation happens in your specific part of Ontario, so its kind of nodding to the history of the area as well,” explained Kotsilidis of the event’s origins. The tour focuses on bringing contemporary art to smaller communities along the river, often overlooked by Canadian reading tours that favour major city locations. The group will launch out of Toronto on Aug. 9 and reach their first destination in Elora on Aug. 11. Altogether the tour will run for 10 days, with stops at nine locations. Much of the funding for the group comes from the publishing houses that
local writers or musicians to perform along side the troupe at each performance location. Access to campgrounds and local communities allows the poets to travel only by canoes provided to them by local sponsors, Treks in the Wild. Still, Kotsilidis explains that roughing it has its downside with food, timing and lack of privacy presenting constant challenges. Yet the convenience of the unconventional transport method is undeniable for the group. “The number of communities on the river is exceptional,” she said. Scrapping their initial idea three years ago to use horses for the tour, Kotsilidis notes that the Grand River was a perfect choice for the trip, as the river can be easily navigated by even the most inexperienced boaters.
down in the dumps over not being afloat
Elmira transfer station operators Annet Viveen (left) and Evelyn Hahn were most concerned about the gasoline pooled at the bottom of the boat after it was left for disposal Wednesday. [elena maystruck / the observer]
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handle the artists. But the tour has also gained sponsors and collaborators, the BridgeKeepers and Grand River Conservation Authority. Local environmental topics will echo through the some of the work presented on the tour, but Kotsilidis explains that the group will also cover a variety of other subjects related to sustainability and environmental awareness. “One of our poets, Darryl Whetter, his poetry tends to be ecological in theme. That’s not necessarily the focus of all of our work but we are just trying to focus on some of the environmental sustainability concerns of the local communities thorough our tour.” Each artist is allotted about seven minutes on stage to perform and at each location, the six poets invite at least two
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