Concerns raised at CBSES public meeting for Rockside quarry
By Anneleen Naudts

"We're only individuals, we don't have science behind us," said a local resident at last week's Rockford quarry meeting, where public raised concerns about the proposed open pit mine.

Though it meant braving snow-covered roads, more than 120 local residents circumvented a closed Mississauga Road in Belfountain and arrived at Caledon Ski Club to attend this consultation meeting on the environmental study for Caledon Aggregate Resource Area 9-A.

The proposed quarry would be located along Olde Base Line Road and extends from Mississauga Road to Winston Churchill Boulevard, though the area affected by the quarry stretches from The Grange Sideroad to King Street, from Creditview Road to beyond the Town' borders.

Consultants hired by James Dick Construction Limited (JDCL) conducted an environmental study by monitoring and collecting data on the area's groundwater, surface water, fisheries and wildlife species. The report, known as the Comprehensive Broader Scale Environmental Study (CBSES), was released Nov. 30, 2006.

A public information forum regarding the draft Part A report was held last January, followed by an objectives workshop in February.

At this CBSES public meeting, consultants summarized the report's Part B sensitivity analysis and Part C implementation sections.

Richard Murphy of Conestoga Rovers and Associates, speaking on behalf of CBSES, stated the report concluded that without mitigation and monitoring, both during extraction and in the following decades, the effects on the environment could be serious.

The report recommended the proposed quarry be implemented using an adaptive management approach. This approach would allow active monitoring and assessing when designing and planning the implementation of the quarry, with the goal of adapting if needed to optimize the process, Murphy said.

Having reviewed the CBSES report, the Town of Caledon, Region of Peel and Credit Valley Conservation Authority compiled lists of comments and questions spanning more than 20 pages. Dialogue is needed to address this list and ensure the report meets the agencies' standards, said Caledon's Manager of Policy Todd Salter. At the request of residents, the pages were posted on the Town's Web site.

The stance of the people at the meeting was evident. It was made apparent when a resident asked those in favour of the quarry to stand up. With the exception of one person, everyone remained seated.

As the question and answer session got under way, queues rapidly formed behind the two microphones. This period would exceed its allotted one-hour slot by 50 minutes.

The first comment of the evening had the audience applauding in support. A resident criticized what he thought was a lack of transparency during the application process, referring to it as "the lack of transparency in the name of transparency." This hides what is really happening, he said, which he called "the perpetual despoliation of the environment."

Other residents pointed to apparent flaws in the report, criticizing it for being unclear and inaccurate. They pointed to the exclusion of some of the area's wells, missing sections, and the insufficient time period of the study (which did not consider the unusually dry 2007 summer, said one resident).

Salter outlined the future steps in the application, which is scheduled to be heard by the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) in April 2009.

One person inquired whether the CBSES report would be peer reviewed, and if so, if stakeholders would have a role in the process. Salter said the agencies will rely on the technical expertise of the CBSES consultants, and apart from occasionally relying on external expertise, no final peer review has been planned.

The public wondered how JDCL would financially compensate Caledon and whether it would be compensated for the loss in property values. JDCL will be paying 11.5 cents per tonne in licence fees between Caledon, the Region and the province, said Salter. Caledon's share would be six cents per tonne.

The Coalition of Concerned Citizens (CCC), who have been actively monitoring the application process, affirmed their opposition to the proposal. "This industrial development proposal for a new open pit mine, sited in a beautiful and environmentally sensitive area, is inappropriate land use planning," remarked its director Lorraine Symmes.

Symmes also questioned what she called the suggestive nature of the report, which she said uses matter-of-fact language, thereby implying the quarry's implementation.

James Parkin, a consultant with MHBC Planning, replied it should be clear that the report is written in anticipation that the quarry might be approved, but it should not imply that it will be.

Symmes further remarked she did not get a clear sense of the report's overall assessment on the fragility of the area.

McMillan, a marine biologist with Ecoplans Limited, said a lot of different factors were looked at, and given the areas prominent features, such as its wildlife corridors and streams, she said she'd classify the area as a fragile environment.

Several residents had questions about adaptive management. One resident said he feared adaptive management will be reactive instead of proactive, asking if it wouldn't be better to prevent something rather than deal with possibly disastrous consequences. Someone else remarked that it seemed like a way "not to do anything unless you have to." Murphy said proactive management will need to be in place to ensure reliability, stating that computer modeling is performance based and lacks an ability to accurately predict. He added it could take well into the night to conduct a thorough discussion on how to apply adaptive management on a site specific scale.

People at the meeting pointed to a lack of risk management for various mitigation failures. "Who will be held accountable if will be held accountable if something goes wrong," asked former councilor Ian Sinclair.

The exit strategy will be something to be worked out, replied Murphy. Part of adaptive management is to anticipate what might go wrong, he said. There needs to be a plan to back out without failing to protect the area.

Another consideration to be worked out is who would have the authority to seize extraction. A resident remarked is should not be left up to JDCL to make this decision. Salter said this too is something that needs to be worked out with the involved parties.

Some people felt the study did not sufficiently focus on people. "You haven't studied us, are we not part of the environment?" asked one person who worried the socio-economic impacts of the proposed quarry were overlooked. Parkin pointed to Part A of CBSES, which included data on the region's population, land uses, conservation, trails, water wells and home businesses. He said the report recognized quality of life is directly related to the natural environment. Though social aspects have been looked at, he conceded the report predominantly contained a natural environment study.

People questioned how thorough an understanding JDCL had of where and how water moves through fractured rock in the area, and how this will impact residential wells and stream in CBSES. The effectiveness of proposed remedial measures, such as a grout curtain to prevent significant inflow into the quarry and the recharge of aquifers with contaminated surface surface water mixed with groundwater, have been the subject of contention.

One resident wanted to know if the study resolved where the cracks were in the aquifer. Since CBSES looked at the overall characteristics of the area, more analysis will be needed to investigate the characteristics of the rock formation, said Murphy.

"So you don't yet know where the cracks are," said the resident as a follow-up question, adding he would like to know when this information will be available.

"Is what will be gained by a few individuals worth what may be lost to future generations?" questioned one man. He wondered about the risk to a legacy of protecting and conserving this area, an area that includes the Niagara Escarpment, is protected by the Ontario Greenbelt and has been classified by the United Nations as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

"In the end, where do we stand?" asked one person. Salter's answer was that OMB will be the one to make a final decision. It will hear the opinion of experts and residents, said Salter, adding his department's decision will be based on whether JDCL has met the Town's standards.

There will be a further public meeting regarding the Rockford Quarry application and the CBSES in October.