Mega-quarry views from North Simcoe

By Sandy Agnew North Simcoe Community News August-September 2011

The Highland Companies proposal for a mega-quarry in Melancthon Township could have environmental, agricultural and social consequences that dwarf those of Site 41.

The proposed 2,316-acre mega-quarry would be:   – ¼ the size of downtown Toronto;   – 1.5 times deeper than Niagara Falls;  – the second-largest quarry in North America; – blasted down 200 feet below the water table;  – requiring the company to pump 600 million litres of water per day forever!  ;  – situated amongst headwaters supplying water to approximately 1 million Ontarians; – destroy huge amounts of “Honeywood Loam” ,  a rare, highly productive class of soil;  – right on the edge of the Niagara Escarpment, an officially declared UNESCO  Biosphere Reserve. 

The Highland Companies is owned by a US based Hedge fund operation with offices in Boston. They have amassed landholdings in Melancthon and Mulmur Townships, in the County of Dufferin, of over 7,000 acres of prime agricultural land. When amassing their land holdings, they had previously stated that they wanted to be the biggest potato farming operation in Ontario.

The Highland Companies’ initial application is for an extraction license covering roughly 2,400 acres, which would make this one of, if not the largest, below-the-water-table mining operation in Canada with extraction approximately 200 feet below the water table.

The repercussions of this mine could seriously and adversely affect the water, the landscape, the community, surrounding agriculture land use, and have the potential to cause disastrous environmental scenarios for decades. This open pit mine will take some of the best agriculture land in Ontario out of production and is in a location that is recognized as one of the primary sources for water recharge feeding the Nottawasaga and Grand Rivers. The effect on deer, wild turkeys, migratory birds and other native wildlife will be irreversible. 

Lest you think this does not concern Simcoe County, remember that roughly fifty percent of the county is within the Nottatwasaga River watershed.

The Ministry of Environment has serious concerns with Highland’s proposal and has recommended that: “Given the above noted inaccuracies and concerns, the ministry objects to the application.”

The North Dufferin Agricultural and Community Taskforce was formed in January, 2009 to oppose this mega-quarry. The above information is only a small sample of the overall information available from NDACT and AWARE Simcoe. Please take a moment to visit their websites at www.ndact.com  and www.aware-simcoe.ca. 

Surely this proposal needs to be a major election issue for the October 6th provincial election. All parties and local candidates need to be forced to take a stand and make a commitment to block this mega-quarry.