Megaquarry opposition grows
Thursday, March 24, 2011
by PAT CURRIE
An overflow crowd of 500 — enough to quintuple the population of tiny Honeywood — is expected to jam the Dufferin County hamlet’s local arena Saturday for a meeting over a gigantic quarry operation proposed for one of the richest farming areas in Ontario.
A proposal by The Highland Companies for an 8,000-foot limestone quarry extending down 236 feet and below the local water table "is a tremendous risk, far greater than any benefit it might produce," said Carl Cosack a local farmer and member of the North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Taskforce (NDACT) which is fighting the project.
"This area is vital to Ontario’s current and future food and water supplies," said Dr. Harvey Kolodny, a founding director of the Citizens Alliance for a Sustainable Environment (CAUSE) which has joined the fray.
John Lowndes, listed in Nova Scotia business registry records as Highland’s director and secretary, describes the company in letters to local councils as an operating and investment platform for a group of private investors. Michael Daniher, of the Toronto consulting firm Special Situations Inc., and a spokesperson for Highland, confirms that the Boston-based hedge fund, The Baupost Group is among the investors.
Highland recently bought 30 properties in Melancthon Township seven kilometres north of Shelburne and now owns 7,500 acres in the area where it is also a major potato producer, having bought out a number of long-established local firms. It grows potatoes under the Downey Potato Farms and Wilson Farms brands.
"The topsoil here is designated as Honeywood Silt Loam and is unique in North America. But it’s good because of the limestone underneath and what happens when the limestone is gone?" asked Nancy Malek, a Melancthon Township councillor whose home in Horning’s Mill sits at the edge of Highland’s holdings, described by Cosack as "a wasteland of destroyed farmsteads and deforested woodlots."
Daniher accused NDACT of resorting "to fear-mongering and distortions.
"Only about 2,300 acres will be utilized for quarry operations and . . . no one will be affected beyond the (Highland) property line. Suitable agricultural land will be fully restored," he said.
Billed as an information meeting by Melancthon Township, Saturday’s assembly will update locals on changes sought to its official plan and zoning regulations by Highland that would allow what would be the largest limestone quarrying operation in Ontario.
The Honeywood gathering is one of two public meetings scheduled before an April 26 deadline set by the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) on further public comment on Highland’s application for a licence under the Aggregate Resources Act.
The deadline is "totally unrealistic," Cosack says. Melancthon Townhip voted Thursday to seek an extension, but township clerk and chief administrative officer Denise Holmes said whatever the MNR response, the whole quarry decision process will take “months, years."
Saturday’s information session will include an update on Highland’s proposal to buy a section of abandoned CN rail line from Dufferin County and add it to another short line — the Orangeville- Brampton Railroad — to haul 90 per cent of its extracted limestone to the Greater Toronto area. The remaining 10 per cent would go to Barrie, Daniher said.
Cosack says he’s done the math and production of 40-million tonnes a year would mean "50 40-car trains a day, each way, that would tie up level crossings 16 hours a day.
"The only alternative would be a 45-tonne truck every six seconds during proposed pit operations 24 hours a day," Cosack said.
Daniher said the 40-million tonnes figure was an "unlimited tonnage" figure used only for quarry licence application purposes and that actual production — and the combined number of trucks and trains needed — would be market driven.
Meanwhile, Highland’s massive 3,162-page application for amendments to the township’s official plan and zoning bylaw was delivered only a week ago and has yet to be digested by township council.
"I haven’t even read it yet," said Coun. John Crowe, who insisted that council has to be "fair and unbiased" in coming to a decision.
Malek termed the Highland proposal "ridiculous, I see this as a disaster. Four watershed systems will be affected -- the Grand, Nottawasaga, Saugeen and Mad rivers all rise here."
"Drinking water for a million people will be compromised," Cosack said. BF