Toxic Time Bomb (2020)

“Toxic Time Bomb” is about the impact of industrial pollution on a community and about activists who have spent 30 years fighting to ensure that industry and government take responsibility for the destruction of the environment in and around their community. Agent Orange, was produced in Elmira, Ontario, a small farming community just outside Waterloo. In late 1989 Elmira was obliged to shut down its water supply because of the discovery of high levels of various chemicals in the aquifer that flows under the town.

“This shocking exposé shows how episodes of ‘local’ contamination in Canada are connected to the wider geography of chemical production, biological warfare, and the long-term ecological and public health legacies of our chemical world. It’s also a compelling story of determined citizen activism in the face of corporate irresponsibility and government denial.” -Arn Keeling, Memorial University

“Toxic Time Bomb is a powerful account of the health and environmental consequences associated with the chemical industry in a small community. The toxic legacy Uniroyal has left behind in Elmira, Ontario, illustrates the long-term costs of dangerous chemical production without appropriate environmental regulation. The film also reminds us that these harms can be spread to distant locations, documenting the damage done by the Elmira plant’s main product, the herbicide Agent Orange. The history of local struggles against pollution is not well documented in Canada; films such as Toxic Time Bomb tell the story of how communities respond to the threat of contaminants in their midst.”-John Sandlos, Memorial University