Acton Quarry Part 2

This is a story of 2 quarries. The top picture is of  the Dufferin Quarry on the 22nd Side Road south of Acton Ontario. The second picture is of a rehabilitated quarry on Vancouver Island. You may recognize it as Butchard Gardens, one of the top tourist attractions in British Columbia. It was one woman's vision and hard work that made this transformation possible.

This is a follow up to my blog from last week. The Town needs to decide if it would like to own the worked out Acton quarry or we would like to give it a pass. To me it is question of vision.

The current rehabilitation plan has a lake on the north side of 22nd side road and a dry bowl on the south side. Dufferin has submitted a plan for expanding the quarry as the existing licensed area will be worked out in 6 or 7 years. If granted, the new expansion areas will ultimately lead to further rehabilitation options.

There are 2 scenarios at play. In scenario 1, Dufferin does not proceed with the expansion and the existing worked out quarry is available to the Town. In this case the Town would take over the lands presumably on the basis that Dufferin has provided funding to cover the cost of the continuous pumping required to keep the dry bowl from flooding, or there has been an agreement with the province that would allow the dry bowl to flood, thus creating 2 additional lakes. The Town would then be on its own to create whatever recreational or environmental situation that it wanted.

In Scenario 2, Dufferin proceeds with its expansion. Dufferin would then be in a position to work in partnership with the Town to develop both the existing and the expanded sites into a much more substantial environmental and recreational preserve.

The land  in scenario 2 encompasses over 1400 acres and is 1.5 times the size of Kelso. This would entail a long term plan whereby the ultimate rehabilitation would happen in the extension areas only after they have been mined out. This could be 40 years into the future. The decision we are making today will potentially have a tremendous impact for future generations.

It is my opinion that this is truly a great opportunity for the Town of Halton Hills. We are a municipalitiy that is three quarters Green Belt. We need to be thinking about what we are going to do with it to turn it to our advantage. This quarry opportunity is one that would allow us to provide an environmental preserve that could easily have trails for different types of trail users including hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders. It could have a BMX course in the old quarry. The lake could host a rowing club. The cliffs could provide a rock climbing venue. It could be hub for Bruce Trail users and the many cycling clubs that ride through Halton Hills. And yes, it could even be home to a spectacular garden.

In addition it would provide very important water security for our Town. The lakes would in fact be reservoirs that would be available for use should we suffer through a period of drought.

The job of our Town staff is to examine the issue thoroughly and provide council with the pros and cons of such an undertaking. There are always risks. However, I have only to think back to the last time our Town had the opportunity to acquire a piece of property for a dollar. It was the abandoned rail line from Georgetown to Palgrave. The Council of the day thought that it would be a headache. There would be liability issues that they were not prepared to accept. So now the wonderful rail trail goes from Palgrave to Terra Cotta where it abruptly stops.

I haven't seen the staff report yet so I have not seen the list of reasons why we shouldn't acquire the quarry but clearly I am leaning towards acquisiton.

What do you think? What uses would you like to see in the quarry and what uses would you really not like to see?

Acton Quarry - When the Blasting Stops - What's Next?

On Monday March 21st Halton Hills Town Council was given a bus tour of the existing Acton Quarry prior to a public workshop discussion with representatives of Dufferin Aggregates about the future of the Quarry after mining is completed. The Quarry is located between the 3rd and 4th lines, straddles the 22nd Sideroad and is west of Limehouse in Halton Hills. 

Dufferin Aggregates has made an application  to expand the existing operation but the pros and cons of that application were not the topic of discussion at the workshop on Monday night.

The reason that the after use of the Quarry was being discussed is because the Town holds the right of first refusal to buy the existing quarry property after it is mined out for the sum of  1 dollar. Therefore the Town needs to determine if it wants to exercise that right. Now is the time to make that determination because Dufferin is in the process of rehabilitating phases 1 and 2 of the existing quarry. They are using as their guide the requirements from the Province which may not be exactly what the Town would want if the Town is to become the eventual owner of the property.

The picture above is of the existing phase 1. As you can see in the distance there is an attractive stone cliff left from the blasting and below that there is a pond. The picture is deceptive as the pond is fairly large and could be called a small lake that is currently 25 feet deep at the far end. Eventually the mounds of gravel in the forground will be removed and the depth will increase by 10 feet. Phase 1 is on the north side of 22 Sideroad. Phase 2 is on the south side and the rehabitation plan for Phase 2 is for a dry bowl which will require continuous pumping in order to keep it dry.

In my next post I will explain why this decision is complicated and what some of the opportunities are.

If you have any inititial questions or comments please send them to me and I will provide comments back.



Quarry Expansion Public Meeting

Last night I attended the second public meeting for the Dufferin Aggregates application to expand their licenced extraction area at the Acton Quarry. Dufferin submitted their application in March 2009 and are expecting to have a decision made by next summer.

There were only about 25 members of the public in attendance which was surprisingly few given the huge public response to applications in Caledon and Burlington. Perhaps there are significant differences amongst the 3 applications that make them unique.

Public comments last night centred on vibration and private well disturbances from the existing quarry. There were virtually no comments about the affects from an expansion of the operation. In fact the term expansion is misleading as what is being requested does not boost the daily operation but rather, it extends the life of the quarry by expanding the area that can be extracted.

Haul routes are always an issue but in this case there are no new haul routes proposed. The routes that are currently in use are certainly troublesome to those who own houses along the routes. The route along Maple Avenue to River Drive runs right through the middle of residential Georgetown and we would dearly love to eliminate that. This could be done if there was a reasonable alternative available. Unfortunately we don't have one at this time.

For me there are 2 important issues in considering the Dufferin application - perpetual water pumping and the World Biosphere.

The first issue came to light last night via a casual comment. It would seem that part of the plan may involve a need to perpetually pump water in order to balance the water in the 2 watersheds the quarry sits atop. The quarry is on the great divide between the Credit River (Black Creek) and the 16 Mile Creek watersheds. Once the excavation goes deep enough it disturbs the distribution of water so that it is thought that too much water will go to Black Creek and not enough to 16 Mile Creek. The solution is to pump the water back to where it naturally goes now. The catch is that this is no temporary measure. If it is required then it will need to continue forever.

In my opinion forever is something that is hard to contemplate. When we think back in history, the Romans had an empire 2000 years ago and the world has been in constant turmoil ever since. That amount of time is a flash in the pan compared to "forever". Think of what can happen in a 1000 year time span - things that can disrupt economies and nations such as world wars and the plagues. If our part of the world experiences a major disruption will the pumping continue on?

Should we be concerned about how this is going to work so far into the future? I think the answer is yes and so this possibility of requiring perpetual pumping concerns me. The need for perpetual pumping is being studied and I will certainly be watching for the recommendation.

My second concern is about the World Biosphere known as the Niagara Escarpment. It strikes me as strange that we, as a province, take the Niagara Escarpment seriously enough to have it protected through the Niagara Escarpment Plan and yet there is absolutely no limit to the amount of quarrying that can take place there. Incrementally it is being eaten away. Is the plan to let it all disappear except for the face? Or will there ever be a limit to the extraction at which point we say 'enough is enough'?

We use aggregate to support growth and the case is always made that this aggregate is close to market making it the cheapest source. Also, it is noted that the shorter the distance to market, the less fumes go into the atmosphere from the trucks. However, not every growth centre has a convenient escarpment in its back yard and yet they seem to overcome the economics of longer haulage routes. It is all really just a question of priorities.

I don't know when this question will be dealt with but at some point I believe we, the people of Ontario, will say enough is enough. The government will never act on its own. It will be up to the people to express their will.

If you have comments about the Dufferin application they should be addressed via email to nancy.mott-allen@ontario.ca She is the planner leading the joint agency review team (JART). The report is available on the Niagara Escarpment website. http://www.escarpment.org/applications/amendments/proposed/index.php#acton quarry

Your comments or questions are always welcome via this blog.