CCC runs tour of lands to be impacted by proposed quarry
By Bill Rea

CCC Director Lorraine Symmes was pointing out some of the group's concerns to Mayor Marolyn morrison before the recent bus tour.

The flow of water through underground rock is difficult to predict, and there are fears the new proposed pit in Caledon could cause vast alterations to flows in surrounding areas.

James Dick Construction Ltd. Is looking to establish a quarry in lands known as Caledon Resource Area 9A, but the Coalition of Concerned Citizens (CCC) are fighting it.

CCC recently conducted a bus tour to outline their fears for area water courses and wetlands. The lands in question are along along Olde Base Line Road and extend from Mississauga Road to Winston Churchill Boulevard, though the rigid area affected by the quarry stretches from The Grange Sideroad to King Street, between Creditview Road and 9th Line beyond the Caledon borders.

The tour included numerous local politicians, as well as other interested parties.

Penny Richardson, president of CCC, called the tour a "local geography lesson," stressing the need for area officials to see the potential for damage for themselves.

"We never know the worth of water until the well is dry," she commented.

CCC Director Lorraine Symmes, who conducted the tour, pointed out Area 9A is in the transition zone between the Paris Moraine and the Niagara Escarpment. As well, the whole system connects with water courses in the Credit Valley, and the associated cold water fisheries, rugged scenic beauty, significant wetlands, etc.

The Paris Moraine, Symmes admitted, is not as well-known as the Oak Ridges Moraine, but she said it's just as important and should be protected too. She added it's elevation is about 600 feet higher than Terra Cotta, meaning the water flowing from the moraine has a major impact on that area.

She also said this water flows through the underground fractured bedrock, as she stressed the entire area is important, interconnected and fragile.

It's not just Caledon lands that stand to be impacted. The tour included numerous looks at Rogers Creek, which also flows through parts of Halton Region and supports 19 different fish species.

Symmes stated it's hard to know where the underground rock is fractured, meaning there's no way know how quarry operations might alter the underground flows. Regardless of technology, "water finds its own way through fractured rock," she said.

She added it's "highly questionable" to say the local aquifer won't be contaminated by the operations.

"It's all interconnected by a complicated interplay of water," she added.

There are other factors of this proposal that concern CCC. One of them is the truck traffic that will be generated, with 1,000 trips per day travelling along Olde Base Line Road to Mississauga Road, observed CCC Director Bob Gardner.

Symmes added that kind of traffic is going to have an impact on the tourism and recreation activity in the area.

Mayor Marolyn Morrison said the tour informed her of the implication of the water runoff in the area, as well as the areas of environmental significance around there.

"I didn't realize their extent," she remarked. "They're everywhere."

She added the Town is still going to have to get more details on the proposal before it takes a position. "It looks pretty serious to me," she said, although she stressed she had not yet read all the reports.

Councillor Richard Paterak said the Town will have to rule on the necessary official plan amendments and rezonings for this proposal, although he acknowledged the whole matter will wind up before the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB).

"We have as much clout as we can muster in stating our case," he said.

The main issue, he added, is what happens to the natural hydrology of the area from this proposed quarry operation.

"They don't know what the real effect will be," he commented, adding it's very hard to predict where the water will go.

Paterak added he had never explored the lands in the Halton portion of the tour before he got on the bus. "That place just teems with wildlife," he said.

"I've got both feet planted firmly on the side that we should not destroy this natural habitat for any kind of gravel operation," declared Councillor Doug Beffort.

He added OMB does not consider need for the material to be an issue, and he thought that was a disservice to what's happening in the area. "We're in no hurry to destroy this," he said.

"It just doesn't fit what we're about in Caledon," he added. "It really does not."

"There's nothing like seeing things with your own eyes and making up your own mind," Symmes commented after the tour.

"It's not just a 'ho-hum' area," she added. "It's got very high value natural heritage."

"And it's all connected with water," she said.