Shelburne 17 others spoke out on quarries

By WES KELLER Freelance Reporter If local recommendations to the Ontario Legislatures Standing Committee on General Government are implemented as amendments to the Aggregate Resources Act, there would, among other things, be: fewer belowwater table quarries; a de-emphasis of mining close to markets; greater recycling of concrete; and greater protection of prime agricultural land. Shelburne Deputy Mayor Ken Bennington was among 18 presenters to the committee on behalf of town council. In an emailed response apart from the meeting, he said the council has three main concerns with quarries in general. Quarries extracting aggregate below the water table can cause potential, irreversible depletion of the aquifer; thus, homeowners and municipalities using wells and/or municipal wells would suffer lack of potable water;

Where a quarry is extracting below the water table, it must dewater the quarrying site. This can cause contamination of the aquifer by contaminants from the quarrying operations being pumped back into the aquifer, thus rendering the potable water from the aquifers unsuitable for human consumption. The third principal concern is with the destruction of irreplaceable farmland that currently provides foods for Ontarians and employment both on farms and in supporting industries, he said.

Deputy Mayor Bennington referred to The Highland Companies contention that the bottom of the quarry would be returned to agricultural use as a pipe dream. First, it will be well below the water table and require dewatering for eternity. Secondly, the cost of the dewatering will be an enormous financial burden for the Township and/or the Province, he said. His rationale on farmland is enlightening: Class 1 to 3 agricultural land represents only 5% of the Canadas total land base. Ontario has 51% of all Class 1 agricultural land in Canada. The Preservation of Agricultural Lands Society reported in 2002 that over 1.5 million hectares of agricultural lands have been lost to nonagricultural uses in Ontario between 1966 and 2002 (the last years for which I have published figures). He says more aggregates could be recycled: Currently, the Ministry of Transport requires using a 20% content of recycled aggregate in Provincial Highway or Transportation construction. This should be increased to 90% as a minimum. This is not an unachievable tar- get. As well, In 2006, the Environmental Commissioner raised concerns about the unconstrained consumption of Ontarios aggregate resources (and) in his 2004/05 Annual Report to the Ontario Legislature, (he) pointed out that aggregate extraction on the North Shore of Lake Superior by Superior Aggregates (a subsidiary of a American contracting and road-building company), was sanctioned by the Ministry of Natural Resources without a proper assessment under the Act. In his presentation to the committee, Mr. Bennington called for a full environmental assessment of all aggregate quarries, with the unambiguous conclusion by all participants that any negative impacts will not occur. Any possibility for the contamination of aquifers must be avoided. Ontario's Precautionary Principle must be the core of the Aggregate Resources Act.

He would prohibit aggregate extraction below the water table in all drinking water source areas, and said that all of the owners/ shareholders, directors, officers, managers and supervisors of any aggregate quarrying operation should be held personally responsible, and not able to hide behind the corporate veil, for any environmental damage caused by the operation of the quarry even after it has ceased its quarrying operations. The deputy mayors presentation reflected an earlier one by Melancthon resident Robert Wells with respect to a provincial preference for mining close to market. Mr. Wells, who had presented from the perspective of a professional economist, would impose a higher licence fee on high risk and socially costly quarries than on those further removed from water sources and prime agricultural land. Mr. Bennington said the Town does not agree with the policy that aggregate must be mined as close to its final use as possible. The additional cost of shipping aggregate from distant points within the province is, in the long run, more beneficial and retains our Provincial natural resources for use within the Province of Ontario. He added that all aggregate mined in Ontario must be used within Ontario and not be permitted to be shipped offshore. We must retain this depleting resource for our own use. He said Shelburne council is investigating the feasibility of passing a municipal bylaw requiring that all demolished concrete and aggregate within the municipality must be recycled, and called for the ARA to require that all demolished concrete products be recycled into new concrete products and not permitted to be dumped into landfills. While this may slightly increase the cost of dealing with demolition waste, it retains most of the value of our resource. If Ontario is to have an economically viable future, we must conserve our aggregate which, in our opinion, is a depleting resource.

He said quarry applications, including those for extension of existing mines, should be subjected to a thorough review process under the Environmental Bill of Rights. This review should encompass all relevant Acts such as, at the very least, the Ontario Water Resources Act, the Environmental Protection Act and the Mining Act. He said that all Class 1, 2, and 3 farmland on which food crops can be grown must remain as such and not permit the extraction of aggregate from beneath that land. We recommend development of a process, with the relevant guidelines, to define and protect our agricultural land resources. In summary, our Council feels that there are serious issues respecting aggregate quarrying operations that must be recognized as such within the Province of Ontario This Committee has the unique opportunity of protecting these issues. Good agricultural land in Ontario is at a premium. Our residents depend upon it for their food and in many cases, their livelihood. The resource of potable water within our province is depleting. Water is indispensable to our lives. We must do everything to protect its source and conserve its use. We encourage you to make recommendations to revise the Act, its Regulations and, encourage the revision of other relevant Acts to ensure that Ontario's agricultural land is protected for agricultural uses and Ontario's water supply is not depleted or contaminated and remains a viable resource for our citizens, he said in conclusion.