Desperate for your help in central Ontario......

[atpl53]

Hi Everyone,

Anna and I recently received information about a rumoured quarry project outside of Shelburne north of Toronto. We have found information on what is, in fact, a proposed massive open pit limestone mine (aka “quarry”) that is almost too staggering to comprehend. Believe me, this is not a joke and I am appealing to you to assist in stopping the first phase applications from being approved.

I have provided lots of information and will itemize it so you can navigate without being overwhelmed:
1. in this posting is a backgrounder to give you an idea of the project and what concerned Ontario citizens must do to stop it.
2. in my second post is also a sample Letter of Objection. A personalized version of this letter should be sent to the MNR and the proponent of the quarry by APRIL 18TH to ensure it is received before the deadline for objections of APRIL 26TH See below for addresses.


Here is some background

The Highland Companies in Canada, owned by the Baupost Group Hedge Fund in Boston, have recently filed an application to dig what will be the largest open pit aggregates quarry in Canada right on top of the Niagara Escarpment! Just north of Shelburne, and south of Blue Mountain, Ontario they plan to mine an area that is almost 10 square kilometers to a depth 200 feet below the water table. This land is prime agricultural “Class A” soil situated at the highest point in southern Ontario. Three major watersheds have their headwaters here – the Saugeen, the Nottawasaga and the Grand Rivers – supplying fresh water to well over 1 million Ontario residents. The property abuts the UNESCO Biosphere Niagara Escarpment Reserve. Yet according to current legislation for aggregate operations, they are not required to do an environmental assessment.

If successful the operation will run 24/7. Millions of tons of limestone will be extracted and sold for highway gravel or as lime for cement. Up to 600 million litres of water per day will be “managed” to keep the pit from flooding, leading to potentially enormous downstream impact. Any flora, fauna or remaining residents will have to deal with constant noise, dust and pollution from blasting, digging, crushing and loading, while the roads will be overwhelmed with up to 7200 trucks coming and going each day from the site. For decades! And if they get permission for the first pit of 2600 acres, why not keep going?

To date the companies have assembled 7000 acres (28 sq. km.) under the pretext of running the largest potato farm in Ontario. Meanwhile they have bulldozed and burned over 30 farmsteads on their holdings, demoralizing residents who don’t want to sell, and de-populating the countryside to reduce any local voices of opposition.

A few small citizens’ organizations have emerged in opposition to this profits-before-people, aggregates-before-agriculture mega pit operation, but they need help. The first deadline is to have Letters of Objection to the proposed plan filed before April 26, 2011 to the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Highlands Companies (proponents of the application). Beyond that will require a groundswell of public opinion to turn back this mega-proposal that threatens the environment, water supply and food supply, and ultimately to change the legislation that allows aggregate operations to insert themselves into communities with the onus on the taxpayers to prove that proposals are unacceptable.

For more information see http://www.citizensalliance.ca and http://www.ndact.com as well as a longer version of this e-mail attached.

Can you help? YOU HAVE TO! This application needs to be stopped so we can buy more time to develop an opposition strategy with the research required to counter the proposal. The proponents have had 5 years to put this together,


Write a Letter of Objection
According to the rules, anyone who opposes the plan has 45 days to file their concern. THE DEADLINE TO SEND A LETTER VOICING YOUR OPPOSITION TO THIS PROPOSAL IS APRIL 26th. TO DO THIS YOU HAVE TO MAIL IT BY APRIL 18TH due to the Easter long weekend.

WHERE TO WRITE:

Mr. Craig Laing,
Aggregate Resources Office
Ministry of Natural Resources
2284 Nursery Road
Midhurst, Ontario
LO0L 1X0

And you must send a copy to:

The Highland Companies
Box 377 Shelburne
Ontario L0N 1S0

While you are at it send a copy to your MPP and to the Premier of Ontario (it is an election year after all!):

Premier Dalton McGuinty
Legislative Building
Queen's Park
Toronto ON M7A 1A1

See the attached sample letter. If you can take the time to personalize your outrage, apparently that is more effective than a form letter. If not, print, sign and send with your contact information attached.

I realize we are all very busy with our daily commitments, but this is something that you really cannot let go by. If this application is successful, at some point one of our children's children will say “How did you guys let this happen? What were you doing when they started digging this crater that can be seen from outer space?”

Sorry to load this onto you all but the timing is critical and the stakes are enormous. Please take a bit of time this weekend and have a look at this and take action. Everyone in your household over the age of 17 can write and sign a letter and the more the better.


With many thanks,

Dan

[atpl53]

SAMPLE LETTER:

Mr. Craig Laing,
Aggregate Resources Office
Ministry of Natural Resources
2284 Nursery Road
Midhurst, Ontario
LO0L 1X0


April 4, 2011


RE: LETTER OF OBJECTION TO APPLICATION FOR AGGREGATE EXTRACTION AS PERMITTED USE BY HIGHLAND COMPANIES IN MULMUR AND MELANCTHON TOWNSHIPS


I have just learned of the application filed on Friday, March 4, 2011, by 3191574 Nova Scotia Company doing business as The Highlands Companies. This is an Application for an Official Plan Amendment and an Application for a Zoning By-law Amendment that affects 2400 acres in Mulmur and Melancthon Townships. The purpose of the Plan Amendment Application is to “redesignate the subject lands to Industrial Uses with Special Provisions to allow for the development of the lands for aggregated extraction and associated accessory uses and the continuation of agricultural uses” . The application for a Zoning By-law Amendment is to “permit aggregate extraction including accessory uses and the continuation of agricultural uses.”

I am thoroughly opposed to the applications and demand that the applications not be approved.

There are many issues that have been brought to my attention that have not been adequately addressed in the proposal. For the sake of brevity I will only list a few:

• Water: Mining stone 200 feet below the water table in an open pit and managing up to 600 million liters of water per day to keep the pit from flooding pose unprecedented hydrological challenges. Inadequate studies have been done on the impact of the quarry on downstream watersheds and water supplies. As the site occupies the highland headwaters of several significant river systems this is a fundamental concern and unacceptable.
• Environment: no environmental impact assessment has been done that demonstrates that the quarry will not have unacceptable environmental impacts. The scale and scope of the proposed operation are unprecedented and will impact flora, fauna, water and geological formations in an area that is in close proximity to the Niagara Escarpment UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
• Land Use and Agriculture: the site of the proposed quarry will remove 2400 acres of “Class A” soil from agricultural production, with unacceptable economic impacts on the agricultural community as well as an unacceptable impact on local food production and security. Aggregate production should not take priority over agricultural production, especially in a 150 year old farming community.
• Traffic and safety: the daily increase of 7200 trucks coming and going from the quarry on the regional highways poses threats to local school traffic, general traffic safety, traffic congestion, air and noise pollution, and ignores the impact on local tourism and other business operations. Access to Collingwood, Blue Mountain, and the nearby Bruce Trail will all be jeopardized by this industrial use of rural land.

In summary, the absence of important analyses in key areas indicates a failure to demonstrate adequate concern about the consequences associated with a proposal for Canada’s largest quarry. There are too many issues that have not been adequately addressed and therefore I object to the proposal going forward until further research can be done. Furthermore, the Proponent has not demonstrated that there are no unacceptable impacts as a result of their proposed operations and that there are no reasonable alternative locations that avoid the many issues outlined above.

I understand that there are a number of groups of concerned citizens who are equally opposed and request that the application be put on hold pending further research and clarification of these objections.

Sincerely yours,

[dashx]

http://news.sympatico.ctv.ca/home/chefs ... y/0df5823e

And food stock is today....

[photofly]

Where will all the required highway gravel and lime for cement come from, if this resource isn't mined?

[dashx]

It was a good turn out despite the rain.

[jschnurr]

Where will all the required highway gravel and lime for cement come from, if this resource isn't mined?

Where will the potatoes come from? Where will the farmers work? Where will the clean drinking water come from if this resource is mined?

Let's not kid ourselves... Good farmland is in short supply. Keep the open-pit mines on unproductive, uninhabited land. There is still a lot of that left in Canada.

[photofly]

Good farmland is in short supply

It is? Apparently it's not in quite as short supply as decent limestone mining prospects. Which clearly this country needs *or nobody would bother mining it*!

[dashx]

Photofly.

Try reading this:

http://www.stopthemegaquarry.ca/

It's short and there are links so you can inform yourself.

[Changes in Latitudes]

Photo, this mine hasn't even been assessed for its environmental impacts yet, and the point has been made about shrinking farmland. I find it curious that you would jump to such a conclusion without more information.

[justwork]

Good farmland is in short supply

It is? Apparently it's not in quite as short supply as decent limestone mining prospects. Which clearly this country needs *or nobody would bother mining it*!

Look at the size of the GTA, then look at the available farm land surrounding it. Yes there may be a lot of farm land in Canada, but as fuel prices rise, it is getting more and more important to keel your food close to home. Also, the biggest issue with this mine isn't the land, it's the amount of fresh water it will directly impact daily. Do some research on this, you will be surprised.

[Liquid Charlie]

The "golden horseshoe" has some of the most fertile land in the world and to see this fall to urban sprall is distressing at the very least -- Toronto should be moved north of 60 -- but then again -- who would want it anyway