by PAT CURRIE
An overflow crowd of 500 — enough to quintuple the population of tiny Honeywood — is expected to jam the Dufferin County hamlet’s local arena Saturday for a meeting over a gigantic quarry operation proposed for one of the richest farming areas in Ontario.
A proposal by The Highland Companies for an 8,000-foot limestone quarry extending down 236 feet and below the local water table "is a tremendous risk, far greater than any benefit it might produce," said Carl Cosack a local farmer and member of the North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Taskforce (NDACT) which is fighting the project.
"This area is vital to Ontario’s current and future food and water supplies," said Dr. Harvey Kolodny, a founding director of the Citizens Alliance for a Sustainable Environment (CAUSE) which has joined the fray.
John Lowndes, listed in Nova Scotia business registry records as Highland’s director and secretary, describes the company in letters to local councils as an operating and investment platform for a group of private investors. Michael Daniher, of the Toronto consulting firm Special Situations Inc., and a spokesperson for Highland, confirms that the Boston-based hedge fund, The Baupost Group is among the investors.
Highland recently bought 30 properties in Melancthon Township seven kilometres north of Shelburne and now owns 7,500 acres in the area where it is also a major potato producer, having bought out a number of long-established local firms. It grows potatoes under the Downey Potato Farms and Wilson Farms brands.
"The topsoil here is designated as Honeywood Silt Loam and is unique in North America. But it’s good because of the limestone underneath and what happens when the limestone is gone?" asked Nancy Malek, a Melancthon Township councillor whose home in Horning’s Mill sits at the edge of Highland’s holdings, described by Cosack as "a wasteland of destroyed farmsteads and deforested woodlots."
Daniher accused NDACT of resorting "to fear-mongering and distortions.
"Only about 2,300 acres will be utilized for quarry operations and . . . no one will be affected beyond the (Highland) property line. Suitable agricultural land will be fully restored," he said.
Billed as an information meeting by Melancthon Township, Saturday’s assembly will update locals on changes sought to its official plan and zoning regulations by Highland that would allow what would be the largest limestone quarrying operation in Ontario.
The Honeywood gathering is one of two public meetings scheduled before an April 26 deadline set by the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) on further public comment on Highland’s application for a licence under the Aggregate Resources Act.
The deadline is "totally unrealistic," Cosack says.
Melancthon Townhip voted Thursday to seek an extension, but township clerk and chief administrative officer Denise Holmes said whatever the MNR response, the whole quarry decision process will take “months, years."
Saturday’s information session will include an update on Highland’s proposal to buy a section of abandoned CN rail line from Dufferin County and add it to another short line — the Orangeville- Brampton Railroad — to haul 90 per cent of its extracted limestone to the Greater Toronto area. The remaining 10 per cent would go to Barrie, Daniher said.
Cosack says he’s done the math and production of 40-million tonnes a year would mean "50 40-car trains a day, each way, that would tie up level crossings 16 hours a day.
"The only alternative would be a 45-tonne truck every six seconds during proposed pit operations 24 hours a day," Cosack said.
Daniher said the 40-million tonnes figure was an "unlimited tonnage" figure used only for quarry licence application purposes and that actual production — and the combined number of trucks and trains needed — would be market driven.
Meanwhile, Highland’s massive 3,162-page application for amendments to the township’s official plan and zoning bylaw was delivered only a week ago and has yet to be digested by township council.
"I haven’t even read it yet," said Coun. John Crowe, who insisted that council has to be "fair and unbiased" in coming to a decision.
Malek termed the Highland proposal "ridiculous, I see this as a disaster. Four watershed systems will be affected -- the Grand, Nottawasaga, Saugeen and Mad rivers all rise here."
"Drinking water for a million people will be compromised," Cosack said. BF
Comments
Lime stones as same as forests are foundations of land houses;it function like water filter; that is why we have good water in here. Remove large amount of lime stones or trees will effect to properties structure on the area in the future. This proposal should be avoided.
This is a cheap way to obtain farm land for sub-divisions plus other uses for whatever else has value. Once the land is gone it can no longer be used for farming purposes and the resources have disappeared there is an opportunity to use thye land for homes.
No one looks to the future and the future is that water is disappearing once it is gone it is gone!
The objection period to the proposed MegaQuarry has ended earlier this week, after a sudden storm of media attention, including CityTv, CP24, 740am and CBC radio, as well a groundswell of community support.
Local Melancthon residents, who have been tirelessly fighting this proposal since the Highland Companies moved in a few years ago gobbling up land and levelling century homesteads, are buoyed by the outpour of support to their cause.
But the struggle is not over. Although Premier McGuinty did a last minute extension of the 'comment period' they still need an unprecedented show of support across the province to make sure this proposal is shelved completely and permanently.
Every citizen must make their comments on the proposed loss of massive amounts of prime Class 1 vegetable soil, the proposed 'management' of hundreds of millions of litres of water and the destruction of the Headwaters beauty and tranquility.
As issued by local MPP Sylvia Jones, April 27th:
"The public can now comment until July 11, 2011 in writing or electronically using the form provided in the EBR notice by referencing the EBR Registry number 011-2864.
This is the link to the Environmental Registry form:
http://www.ebr.gov.on.ca/ERS-WEB-External/displaynoticecontent.do?notice...
The McGuinty government must seize the moment and protect the thousands of acres of potato fields in Melancthon Township from a devastating quarry pit. It would be a travesty for that rich farmland to be dug up and destroyed forever. And for what? To pour millions of dollars into a Boston-based hedge fund?
The prime farmland and its bounty for southern Ontario would be lost. Highland claims it will pump 600-million litres of water a day from the quarry pit, in perpetuity. This notion insults our intelligence. Pumps cannot run forever. Companies fail, companies flee and who will be in charge of the pumps then.
Highland also claims it will farm the bottom of the pit. Again, this is ridiculous. Is it planning to store the top-soil for years and then dump it into the bottom of a 200-foot pit? The composition of the soil will not be the same, the fear of the pumps failing will be constant and Highland is actually under no obligation to rehabilitate the area because the pit will be below the water table.
Highland should be ashamed of itself for assembling the land and pretending to be potato farmers when it was only after the limestone. The McGuinty government must act swiftly to end Highland's bid to destroy a significant part of southern Ontario's farmland, water supplies and beauty.
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