Quarry cries have premier’s attention

By Chris Halliday
May 18, 2011 - 5:21 PM

The Highland Companies’ desire to quarry 2,316 acres in Melancthon is on

Dalton McGuinty’s radar.

That’s about all the premier said during an Ontario Community Newspaper
Association (OCNA) leaders convention in Niagara Falls on Friday (May 13),
when asked whether the Liberal government would require an Environmental
Assessment (EA) to be completed.

“I’m hearing more and more from people about that particular proposal, so I’ve
come to learn personally more about it,” McGuinty told The Banner. “Let me put it
this way, they’ve got my attention.”

The premier’s response must have brought a smile to Melancthon Mayor Bill
Hill’s face, as he explained a recent request for an EA by the Citizens’ Alliance
United for a Sustainable Environment (CAUSE) forwarded to the Ministry of the
Environment (MOE), will appear on his township council’s agenda for discussion
this evening (May 19).

“I’m pleased to hear (McGuinty’s) comment, by that I mean, obviously, it’s higher
on his radar screen,” Hill said, explaining township council has been debating
whether to send its own request for an EA into the province as well. “Council has
discussed it in the past, and we’re discussing it again, under unfinished business,
our position regarding an environmental assessment.

“I’m not going to presume or assume what council is going to do,” the mayor
added. “Certainly after Thursday’s council meeting, and our discussion of the
CAUSE proposal, what council may do should obviously be a lot clearer.”

Since The Highland Companies tabled its application for an aggregate licence to
Melancthon council in early March, opposition to the proposal has gained
momentum. The Ministry of Natural Resources received more than 1,000 letters
of objection during the 45-day commenting period required under the Aggregate
Resources Act (ARA), which ended on April 26.

In turn, The Highland Companies now has two years to address issues raised to
the satisfaction of the complainants, or the matter will likely be referred to the
Ontario Municipal Board (OMB).

“It wouldn’t surprise me that it would end up in the OMB,” Hill said.

After facing mounting pressure from local Progressive Conservative MPP Sylvia
Jones, municipal governments, as well as citizen and environmentalist groups to
extend the 45-day commenting period under the ARA, Ontario Minister of Natural
Resources Linda Jeffrey extended the online Environmental Registry (known as
EBR) period — found at www.ebr.gov.on.ca — until July 11.

The Highland Companies, however, isn’t obligated to respond to messages left

on the EBR in the same fashion as it is under the ARA.

Despite that, the EBR extension is still a victory in Hill’s book. The minister
committed to including those EBR objections in any package reviewed by
officials at the OMB should the issue head there.

“Getting them to extend the comment period is a win. It is not exactly what we
were after,” Hill remarked, “but the fact is with the comments from the minister
and the ministry, I think those comments will now have some weight if this goes
to the OMB, which presumably it will.”

Although McGuinty said certain processes need to be followed before any

decisions regarding an EA are considered, NDP leader Andrea Horwath has
made her opinion on the matter clear — her party supports an EA for the project.

“Why won’t the government designate this project as an undertaking under the
Environmental Assessment Act and require a full environmental assessment with
full public participation before this project is approved?” Horwath asked Jeffrey
during Question Period on May 4 after the minister extended the EBR comment
period.

“This is the very beginning of the process,” Jeffrey responded. “What I have done
is I’ve listened to the residents. I spoke with the mayor. I spoke with the member
in the Conservative Party who questioned me on this issue.”

Jones, who has led the Progressive Conservative party’s charge at Queen’s
Park, is the MPP Jeffrey is referencing. The Dufferin-Caledon MPP has raised
several issues inside the legislature, including residents and municipalities’
desire that the 45-day ARA comment period be extended.
In terms of an EA though, Jones isn’t in any position to take a definitive stance
yet. Until recently, Jones said she has never been faced with a request to
undertake an EA instead of the ARA approval process.

“I want to have a better handle on how an environmental assessment approval

would be different than an ARA approval,” Jones explained. “Is there any
argument because of the size of the project? Quite possibly, but I want to have
that research done before I make any further statement.”

As a result, Jones has set up meetings with MNR staff in hopes to find out how
an EA approval process might change the way The Highland Companies
application would be reviewed.

“When you review an application, does MNR have everything they need when
the project goes from 100 acres to 2,400 acres?” Jones asked.

“I want to be confident that the current process under the ARA is sufficient for an
application of this scale and size.”

As for whether McGuinty and a Liberal government will champion calls for an EA
remain to be seen. But as the premier explained, he feels it is too early in the
process to take a definitive stance on the matter.
“There is a process that must be followed and it is the subject of continuing
conversation within our government,” McGuinty said. “That is as much as I can
tell you at this point.”