Melancthon Update to Wellington Water Watchers

Written by Mike on October 12, 2011 1 Comment Update to Wellington Water-Watchers First of all, on behalf of CAUSE and our allies, many thanks to the Wellington Water Watchers for all your support and active participation in the campaign to stop the mega quarry. Without organizations such as yours, and without dedicated and concerned people like you, there is no way that this proposal would be getting the attention and commitments to oversight that it is now receiving. During the last six months, our little campaign has evolved into large and dynamic movement that has pushed this proposal and issues related to how we protect our resources and manage land use planning to the top of the public agenda. The interest and support that has come from Wellington County and Guelph has been truly inspiring. The steady stream of media clippings from the Guelph Mercury, the motions passed by Guelph Councillors, the letters of support from Water Watchers and your friends, and the interest demonstrated by decision makers from your communities has added significant value to the overall campaign to stop the mega quarry. Without the help provided by the many groups and thousands of people that have gotten involved in this issue, there would have been no stopping the mega quarry proponents. Now at the very least, their proposal will be subject to intense scrutiny and review in a very public and hopefully transparent decision making process. Congratulations on your efforts to date and thank you! Since all or most of you are keenly aware of the issue, I wont bore you with facts and details that you have heard countless times, and probably said yourselves at meetings and rallies or written in your letters and emails challenging the mega quarry proposal. Instead, I will provide you the latest in the context of how you can stay involved.

The most significant activity that people are concentrating on this week is Foodstock. I am sure that most of you are familiar with this event and sincerely hope that many of you will attend. After all the public events that have taken place the past six months, the long distance walks, the rallies at Queens Park, the deputations at municipal councils and the booths at Farmers markets, Foodstock has the potential to become a defining moment in what will likely be a long struggle. Chiefly organized by chefs that are flying in from around the country and supported by an army of volunteers, top-notch artists and musicians and interested organizations and residents, Foodstock symbolizes the broad level of support this campaign is receiving from people and organizations from across the country. As you know, the Ministry of Natural Resources received thousands of objection letters during the 75-day comment period following the application to develop the mega quarry. The proponent has up to two years to directly address the concerns expressed in those letters. Once they send their responses to these objection letters, there is only a brief 20-day period to determine whether your concerns have been adequately addressed. If you do not respond within that window, the proponent can claim that your issues have been resolved and the government assumes that you are satisfied. So please, be vigilant in watching for these letters, they could come at any time and thoughtful and timely responses will be necessary to make sure that our communities and resources remain protected. A couple of days before the election writ was dropped, the Ontario Government finally announced that the mega quarry would be subject to a full Environmental Assessment. This was an unprecedented move by the government, but one that was relatively easy for them to make given the unprecedented nature of this proposal and the enlightened pressure that bombarded the government as a result of our collective efforts during the preceding months. There are still many questions unanswered about how the EA will work in this instance and we will have to stay vigilant as the government determines how this process will work. One note of caution however, many of our supporters nonchalantly assume that there is no way the mega quarry can pass an EA. In no way should this Environmental Assessment be viewed as the death of this proposal.

Yes it will ensure a more extensive review of the proposal and improved public consultation, but mines and landfills get approved through the EA process on a regular basis and the proponent has an army of engineers, lawyers, lobbyists, PR professionals, and a variety of other consultants all working to improve their proposal and expedite its passage through the approvals process. Anti-mega quarry supporters have also been pushing to subject the mega quarry to a Federal Environmental Assessment. Wellington Halton Hills MP Michael Chong has joined a few other Ontario MPs in advancing this request with the Federal Environment Minister and the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. From our perspective, the involvement of the Federal Government in this review will add considerable expertise and oversight into the review of this application. Support for this request and for those advancing it is a priority for anti-mega quarry activists in the months to come. Your participation in this effort could be very advantageous and would be appreciated. In the near future, the Township of Melancthon will be considering a request assembled by a professional planner on behalf of NDACT and CAUSE to designate 10,000 acres in the Honeywood vicinity as a Specialty Crop Area in recognition of the special characteristics of the soils and micro climate in that area. Again, this is not a show stopper at this time, but this improves Melancthons outdated Official Plan and focuses attention on the policy and land use planning framework in Ontario that allows aggregate extraction to trump prime agricultural land. There will be a public meeting and other activities related to this initiative that I will share with you as soon as more information is available. Together, since this issue first came to light, we have come a long, long way. The opposition to the mega quarry has been growing steadily for many months because of the efforts of people like you. Media stories appear almost daily about this issue and they are not confined to central Ontario newspapers and online publications across North America have tuned in to this issue. This past Monday, the CBC National News did a 16 minute story on the Mega Quarry issue. Our task now is to stay vigilant, stay educated and stay involved. We have come very far but the fight is just beginning. The approvals process is long and daunting, and if we relent, our past efforts will be wasted. The other side has deep pockets and they have already spent millions of

dollars pursuing this limestone. We dont have deep pockets, but we have already proved that we can make significant change if we stay active. Keep talking about the mega quarry to your friends, remind politicians and government decision makers about your interest in this issue and watch for the occasional calls for action at important decision points in the months and years ahead. Thank you again for your ongoing support! Cam MacKinnon Cam CAUSE <cam@citizensalliance.ca