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Board approves Duntroon Quarry expansion

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In Clearview
Jun 19th, 2012
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By Michael Gennings Barrie Advance Jun 18, 2012
DUNTROON – The Consolidated Hearings Board says that Walker Industries can go ahead with its plan to expand the Duntroon Quarry. 
In a 263-page decision released Monday, June 18, the board states: “the positive history of the existing quarry, the lack of its negative impact on the use of water supplies, the continued presence of natural heritage features in close proximity and the proposed continued use of the established haul route were all factors in the Joint Board’s support of the proposal.”
Walker officials were pleased with the board’s decision.
“This is very good news for our employees and their families,” Walker vice-president Ken Lucyshyn said in a news release. “The hearing and the many years of work leading up to it represented a very long and exhausting process for everyone involved – especially our employees who had to live with the uncertainty of whether they would be able to keep their jobs. We are also pleased to be able to continue to be a part of the community in Clearview Township and we’ll continue to be a good neighbour to those who live and work nearby.”
The Clearview Community Coalition (CCC), local resident Emelia Franks and the Niagara Escarpment Commission were opposed to the expansion, saying it would negatively impact the surrounding environment.
The opposition resulted in a hearing that heard evidence for 139 days over 39 weeks from more than 40 individuals.  The CCC, which represented several residents against the expansion, could not be reached for comment Monday evening.
Clearview mayor Ken Ferguson could also not be reached for comment Monday night.
The existing quarry is located just west of Duntroon on the south side of County Road 91. The expansion site is located on the north side of the county road. It consists of 149 hectares with a proposal that the company get an extraction licence for 76 hectares with the plan to actually extract aggregate from 64.8 hectares.
Walker Aggregates plans to remove about 41.4-million tonnes of aggregate from the site.
According to the board, the annual extraction rate of 1.5-million tonnes means the proposed quarry will operate for 28 years.
Afterwards, the plan is to rehabilitate the area, with plans for trees and a lake.
“Mitigation of potential impacts and monitoring of various features and parameters is proposed, much of its within the context of an Adaptive Management Plan,” the board notes. “The intent of the AMP is to allow for adjustment of mitigation measures and to implement contingency measures, if required, depending upon the results of on-going monitoring during the quarry license.”
 
OMB gives OK to Duntroon quarry expansion
By Morgan Ian Adams Collingwood Enterprise Bulletin June 19 2012
The Consolidated Hearings Board reviewing the application by Walker Aggregates to expand its quarry operations has given the company the go ahead for its expansion plans.
However, it could be up to a year before the company can start to dig on the site.
Walker’s vice-president Ken Lucyshyn said there are still a number of steps to take, including obtaining the license from the Ministry of Natural Resources, completing an Adaptive Management Plan for the site, and updating the site plan based on the ruling of the board.
The 263-page ruling also modified Walker’s original application for operating hours; the company had asked to ship aggregate from 5 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday to Friday and from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Saturday. The board ruled that shipping hours would be from 6 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday with no shipping on Saturday.
“We have to live with that; that’s the decision of the board, and we will have to make it work,” said Lucyshyn.
Lucyshyn, speaking to the E-B on the phone from Europe Tuesday morning, also noted the company had prepared itself that changes would be ordered to the Adaptive Management Plan (AMP). The board had outlined monitoring and testing requirements under the AMP, which would include management measures for recharging the dolostone aquifer to maintain the groundwater discharge to the springs on the escarpment must be tested to the satisfaction of the Ministry of Natural Resources in consultation with the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority.
The board also directed that buffers be increased around the Rob Roy wetland to 120 metres from the 30 metres that Walker had proposed, and around the main colony of American Hart’s Tongue Fern on the property to 100 metres from the 50 metres recommended by the company.
“We’re not surprised by the changes that the board has asked for,” said Lucyshyn.
Lucyshyn said actual work on the site may be three months, and possibly a year, away, depending on how things proceed with updating the AMP, and getting the MNR’s approvals for a license. The site plan changes recommended may also affect how much aggregate Walker’s will be permitted to remove; the original application indicated there are 44 million tonnes available on the site, and Lucyshyn estimated the company would ship 1.2 million to 1.5 million tonnes a year.
He also pledged to continue to work with the community to minimize any impacts from the site.
“We didn’t want this to be a case of a winner and a loser; we wanted a win-win, and it’s unfortunate that with the hearing there will be parts of the decision that people will not be happy with,” he said. “But we will continue to work together with the community, to do the best we can to co-habitate.”
Lucyshyn also noted the decision will be a relief to Walker’s employees; the existing site is almost out of aggregate and the continued employment for many of the workers was uncertain.
“They can get on with their lives,” he said.
Walker’s application had been challenged by neighbour Emelia Franks, as well as the Clearview Community Coalition and the Niagara Escarpment Commission, on the basis of several environmental issues, including the presence of the Bobolink bird, a stand of Butternut trees, and the colony of ferns. Concerns were also raised about the site’s location in proximity to the headwaters of the Beaver and Pretty rivers, and Batteaux Creek.
The plans would also see Walker Aggregates take ownership of a section of County Road 91, running between its existing quarry west of Duntroon, and the expansion on the north side of the road. Residents had raised concerns about the road being used as a haul route, an issue they attempted to highlight in an appeal to review evidence last fall after a truck came off the road after leaving the quarry.
The decision also requires that prior to the start of shipping of product from the proposed quarry that the improvements to former County Road 91 and Sideroad 26/27 as contemplated by the Road Settlement Agreements with Clearview Township and Simcoe County be undertaken to the satisfaction of the Township of Clearview.
The full text of the decision is available on the Environmental Review Tribunal website.
“The Joint Board, after considering all of the evidence is satisfied that the approval of the proponent’s proposal as set out and modified by this decision is in the public interest and represents good planning that should be approved subject to the directions and modifications set out in this decision,” the decision stated in its conclusion.
Acccording to a news release from Walker’s public relations representatives, the board said a number of points “significantly influenced” its decision. These included the fact that the proposal represents a continuation of a long-established land use in the area with no significant negative impacts to surrounding uses, and that the expansion proposal has been studied for more than nine years.
Prior to the order issuing the approvals is put in place, the board’s decision directed that the adaptive management plan be amended and finalized.
The hearing lasted 139 days over a 13-month period.
A news release from the Clearview Community Coalition outlining their reaction is expected later today. 
 

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