Sunday July 17: Orangeville celebrates fight against proposed Mega-Quarry

News release from event organizer July 12 2011 

WHAT: A bicycle-powered concert featuring guest speakers, aboriginal ceremony, drumming, dancing, music, artistry, face painting and more.

WHEN: Sunday, July 17th, 2011. Opening ceremony11:30am–12pm; Performances and guest speakers 12pm-6pm; closing ceremonies 6pm.

WHERE: Alexandra Park, 87 Broadway Avenue at Second Street, behind Town Hall, downtown Orangeville (MAP)

WHO:   The greater Orangeville community; North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Taskforce (NDACT); First Nations representatives; guest speakers from Melancthon area.

WHY:   Highland Companies, set up by Boston-based hedge fund The Baupost Group, has filed a 3,100 page application for a 2,316-acre open pit limestone quarry in Melancthon Township, 100 kilometres north of Toronto. The proposed quarry would plunge up to 200 feet below the water table, affecting local business, environment, community and health, and polluting the water supply of millions of people. 

The proposed 2,316-acre mega quarry would:

            – be ¼ the size of downtown Toronto

            – be 1.5 times deeper than Niagara Falls

            – be the second-largest quarry in North America

            – blast down 200 feet below the water table

            – require the company to pump 600 million litres of water per day forever!  

            – be situated amongst headwaters supplying approximately 1 million Ontarians

            – destroy huge amounts of “Honeywood Loam”- a rare, highly productive soil

            – be right on the edge of the Niagara Escarpment, an officially declared UNESCO

  Biosphere Reserve 

CONTACT:

Event organizer: Ilyan Balicki 647.678.0968 ilyan@chocosoltraders.com

Media inquiries: Carl Michener, Outwrite Communications 416 476 7484