Minister's decision hardly precedent setting say quarry opponents

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

by BRIAN LOCKHART

Those fighting the development of a large-scale quarry in Dufferin County say it’s doubtful Ontario Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs Jim Bradley will step in on their behalf as he did last month to halt a quarry development in Hamilton.

“There’s a simple reason - industry is looking for resources,” says Garry Hunter, an engineering consultant and hydro-geologist hired by the North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Task Force. The citizen’s group is fighting The Highland Companies’ proposal to establish quarry operations, mainly in Melancthon Township, saying it will put the area’s agricultural industry at risk.

Dated April 12 and published in The Ontario Gazette May 1, the minister’s order halts zoning changes that would have allowed St. Mary’s Cement to create a 154-acre quarry in the former Town of Flamborough near Carlisle.

Concerns about the impact of a quarry development on ground water resources in the area are what prompted the order, says Hunter.

The citizens’ group also fears the effects on local water quality if the Highland proposal is permitted to proceed.  The order “shows that there is a method for the province to come in,” says Hunter.

Yet the Flamborough quarry issue hasn’t yet been really resolved, he adds, noting St. Marys still has 30 days to appeal the order.

The order is specific to that site, he adds. And because there’s such demand for crushed stone, the province will be receptive to quarry proposals elsewhere, he says.

Dale Rutledge, chair of the citizen’s group and a local farmer, says the ministry’s decision to step in concerning the Flamborough quarry proposal has some good news because those opposed “got it stopped on source water protection” concerns.

“It’s sure not going to hurt,” the citizens’ group’s efforts, he says. But “we’re still fighting Goliath.”

Highland, which grows potatoes, owns between 6,000 and 7,000 acres of prime agricultural land in Melancthon and neighbouring Mulmur Township. It announced intentions to add a 2,400-acre quarry operation to its farming business in 2009.
The area has a significant deposit of Amabel dolostone - a form of limestone used extensively by the construction industry.

The company had initially planned to submit an application to the municipality for the project early in 2009 but has not yet done so. Highland spokesperson Michael Daniher says the “goal is to submit the best application possible. One that addresses the circumstance unique to Melancthon Township.”

Daniher says critics of the proposed quarry have been raising “misrepresentations and fears” about the project.

“We have been very forthright in the community,” Daniher says. “It (the quarry) will not assume the proportions that people say.” Only about 200 acres would be quarried at one time; there would be no sudden 2,400-acre hole, he says.

The citizen’s group has attempted to obtain a specialty crop designation from the province to halt the quarry’s development. Members say that the soil type combined with a unique climate is “conducive to growing consistently high quality and yields of potatoes.”

But they learned that even if such a designation were applied it would only stop urban development — not a quarry operation.

Ministry of Natural Resources spokesperson Jolanta Kowalski says the ministry has not received an application for a quarry license from the Highlands Company in Melancthon Township “so it wouldn’t be appropriate for us to comment.”

Noting the company is “still taking on projects, taking down trees and farms,” Rutledge says the task force will continue proactive lobby efforts. “If we don’t, we’re following the horse instead of steering it.”  BF