[All] Book Review for Susan B's book

[Susan Koswan]

In case you don't see this book review in today's Record. Community activism
can take many forms.


Susan K 


Books: This Soil, This Water 


This Soil, This Water - Text by Susan Hodges Bryant, paintings by Ed
Schleimer, edited by Judith Maclean Miller (Stonegarden Studios, $20
softcover) - Do not let local artist Ed Schleimer's lovely, abstract and
floral watercolours in this modern day "chapbook" fool you into believing
all is well in Elmira. Time has not healed the wounds of the decades-old
chemical contamination of Elmira's water and soil by Uniroyal Chemical, a
company now called Chemtura Corp. 

In This Soil, This Water, Schleimer's artwork is paired with the words of a
presentation local eco-hero Susan Bryant made in 2001 on behalf of the group
Assuring Protection for Tomorrow's Environment (APT) to hearings held by the
Walkerton Commission of Inquiry, which was established by the Ontario
government.

Bryant's words may be spare and matter of fact, but it is impossible not to
feel horror at the lack of responsibility shown by the corporations and
government regulators that were asleep at the switch in protecting Elmira's
water supply. 

As the book's editor, Judith Maclean Miller, notes in an epilogue, although
"the company has excavated more (Canagagigue) creek bank hotspots on their
site, reducing the amount of DDT and dioxins eroding from its property," the
cleanup is still an ongoing matter. 

My hope is that this attractive and clever little book will help to dredge
up what has been buried for too long. It is sold by non-profit publisher
Stonegarden Studios at www.stonegardenstudios.ca 

Susan Koswan is a Kitchener writer.

http://www.therecord.com/whatson/books/article/654183--books-this-soil-this-
water

 

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