ISSUES
Rural residents in Southern Georgian Bay continue to battle the development of aggregate quarries and industrial wind turbines in their Niagara Escarpment neighbourhoods. On The Bay has been covering the turbine issue since 2004 and the quarry issue since 2006. Here’s the latest on what grassroots groups of local residents are doing to try to protect our landscape, our lifestyle and our property values. by Marc HuMinilowycz
Bedrock Battles Ever since a quarry application was filed in March 2011, the Melancthon “Mega Quarry” in Dufferin county has been receiving a great deal of attention. Media coverage (conventional and digital) has been generous. “Stop the Quarry” signs are ever-present on private lawns along roads from our region through to the GTa. and last october, the “Foodstock” protest/fundraising event drew big-name ontario chefs and musicians, and an estimated crowd of 28,000 supporters. if approved, the 2,316-acre Melancthon Quarry (about 5 km across and 57 metres deep), situated on prime ontario agricultural land, will be the largest of its kind in canada and the second largest in north america. over the span of its lifetime, it has the potential to extract one billion tonnes of aggregate, mostly destined for construction and roads in the GTa. The project is currently undergoing a provincial environmental assessment. But there is another quarry battle under way in Southern Georgian Bay, surrounding a large proposed addition to an existing quarry situated on the corner of county roads 91 and 31 just west of Duntroon. This local crusade began in 2006 when walker aggregates, the owners of the Duntroon Quarry, applied for an addition to their operations of approximately 170 acres directly across the road, to be excavated below the
water table. Emilia Franks and other residents with properties near the site fought the project due to its potential of increasing truck traffic, noise and air pollution, impacts on their water supply and quality, and environmental degradation of the Escarpment. The proposed quarry land, situated near the highest point on the niagara Escarpment, is designated “Escarpment rural” according to the niagara Escarpment Plan. as part of the approval process to operate a quarry here, walker aggregates applied to the niagara Escarpment commission (nEc) for an amendment to change the land’s “rural” designation to “Mineral Extraction area.” over the course of three years, numerous letters and petitions were written, meetings and information sessions were held, and regular staff reports from the niagara Escarpment commission, containing comments on the project from various provincial ministries, municipalities and residents, were prepared and circulated to all parties involved. in early 2009, a new citizens’ group formed in opposition to the walker Quarry. clearview community coalition (ccc) entered the bedrock fray prepared for this battle, with a broader mandate to oppose the powerful aggregate industry and “protect the niagara
On The Bay
SUMMeR 2012
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