For a Better Ontario: Clean Water, Prime Farmland or a Mega-Quarry?

Submitted by Mike Schreiner on Fri, 2011-06-10 11:59

Forget the scorching heat -- summer is off to a rocky start. Imagine a hole in the ground 1/3 the size of Toronto and deeper than the gorge at Niagara Falls. This is the size of a proposed mega quarry - the largest in Ontario’s history - in Melancthon Township, north-west of the Town of Shelburne. 

I would need an Environmental Assessment to build a farm house. Yet this proposed quarry does not: it just needs a license to mine aggregate from the Ministry of Natural Resources. This makes no sense.

A quick look at the facts makes it clear that the mega quarry would have a huge environmental impact, and therefore should be denied by the Ministry of Natural Resources or at the very least subject to a full Environmental Assessment by the Ministry of Environment.
 
The proposed mega quarry is at the headwaters of five major river systems in southern Ontario. It would use and manipulate 600 million litres of water every day - that is 25% of the current daily water use for the entire province! This number also represents 100,000 times the average water usage of a “major” residential development.

The mega quarry would excavate an area several hundred feet below the water table, threatening the wells upon which the local population relies for their drinking water.  This sort of disregard for the public good is inherently risky and would certainly come under scrutiny during an Environmental Assessment.

The location, size and scale of this development threatens some of Ontario’s best farmland. The loss of such prime farmland endangers our food security and hurts the local and provincial economy. Such a loss will also affect the natural and cultural heritage of a community with multi-generational farm families. An Environmental Assessment would consider these social, economic and cultural effects of the mega quarry.

Ontario does not need a mega quarry that threatens our water, food, jobs and health. We do not need to excavate almost 1000 hectares of prime farmland and taint our water table for aggregate gravel, especially when more sensible options exist. We should not skip the environmental assessment in favour of expediency. 

It’s time for the government to put our health, our water and our local economy ahead of the interest of an American hedge fund.  It’s time for the political insiders at Queen’s Park to listen to the citizens and communities speaking out against a proposal that makes no sense. 

The Green Party is committed to working with citizens speaking out for clean water, healthy food and a strong local economy. 

You too can make a big difference by taking action:

 

  1. Register a comment to MNR in opposition to the quarry via the Environment Registry. Here is a copy of my comment. You can also submit your EBR comment here before July 11. 
     
  2. Write John Wilkinson, Minister of the Environment,  asking him to designate this project for a full Environmental Assessment.  A sample letter is available here and may be sent to the address below.

Hon. John Wilkinson, Minister Ministry of Environment
11th Floor Ferguson Block
77 Wellesley St. West 
Toronto, ON M7A 2T5 
Jwilkinson.mpp.co@liberal.ola.org
416-314-6790