• Protecting Water and Farmland in Simcoe County

Updated – Tuesday September 19: quarry, water issue near Waverley

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In Council Watch
Sep 15th, 2017
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See below for update, text of flier

ATTENTION RESIDENTS OF TINY, SPRINGWATER AND TAY TOWNSHIP

from Friends of the Waverley Uplands

Protecting French’s Hill * The Recharge Area For The Alliston Aquifer

There will be a public meeting held by Dufferin Aggregates on Tuesday September 19. 2017 * Wyebridge Community Centre at 6:00 p.m.

In regards to Protecting French’s Hill, the recharge area for the Alliston Aquifer which supplies gold standard water to these areas above.

Dufferin staff have confirmed that they’ve purchased the Beamish Quarry. Dufferin also confirmed that they were going ahead with the water taking permit to wash gravel, and will be taking asphalt and other construction material into the site. There will be no concrete pad or other ground barrier for this material to prevent groundwater contamination.

People living near the quarry are very concerned about their wells because there is constant siltation in their water.

We need your presence to help protect our precious water, show your support and disapproval of any further damage caused by the proposed expansion of gravel extraction from French’s Hill.

This could be another Site 41!

Flier: – – – – – – – – – – – –

COULD THIS BE ANOTHER SITE 41?

Surrounding landowners are convinced that the Beamish gravel pit on Concession 1 impacted their wells. Twice Steve Ogden, who then lived on Marshall Road not far from the pit, experienced a dramatic rise in the water level in his well. Twice he had to add extra tiles to contain the water. At the same time, standing water began to appear along Marshall Road and in the nearby bush – something new in his experience.

Other landowners in the area were dismayed when the water in their wells became silty (just as wells near Site 41 became silty during dewatering). They reported this to the Township and the authorities – the Ministry of the Environment, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) — only to have their concerns dismissed.

Recently, the MNRF informed the Township of Tiny in a letter that it had consented to eight amendments to the site plan of the Beamish gravel pit. These included:

• an increase in the depth of extraction

• allowing the importation into the pit of asphalt, concrete, aggregate and topsoil/fill for transfer or processing, and

• permitting a wash plant and wash pond on-site

The owners of the pit, who have failed to rehabilitate their original site, then asked for a significant northward expansion of the area for aggregate extraction. The land in question is directly east of what was known as Site 41.

The current owners intend to remove gravel to a depth of 10 meters at the shallowest and 41.2 meters at the deepest point, virtually eliminating French’s Hill – the Hill whose power of filtration produces some of the cleanest water on the planet according to William Shotyk, Professor and Bocock Chair for Agriculture and the Environment at the University of Alberta.

The water table is to be protected from the extraction of gravel, the importation of asphalt, and the creation of dirty wash water (as much as 6 million litres a day!) by a buffer of only a meter and a half if this plan is approved.

Recently Beamish sold its company and gravel pits to Dufferin Aggregates, owned by CRH. CRH is based in Dublin, Ireland.

Your help is needed to preserve this wonderful treasure of clean water for future generations.

Attend the upcoming meeting about the gravel pit at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, September 19, 2017 in the Wyebridge Community Center. 8360 Hwy 93 Wyebridge ON

Express your concerns in writing to:

Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) Hon. Kathryn McGarry | Minister | Tel: 416-314-2301 | minister.mnrf@ontario.ca Address Whitney Block 6th Flr Rm 6630, 99 Wellesley St W, Toronto, ON M7A 1W3

Minister of the Environment and Climate Change (MOE) Chris Ballard |Minister |Tel: 416-325-4000 | minister.moecc@ontario.ca Address Ferguson Block 11th Flr, 77 Wellesley St W, Toronto, ON M7A 2T5

Kathleen Wynne, Premier Tel: 416-325-1941 premier@ontario.ca Legislative Building Queen’s Park Toronto ON M7A 1A1

Patrick Brown, MP Simcoe North Queen’s Park Room 381, Main Legislative Building, Queen’s Park Toronto, Ontario M7A 1A8 Tel: 416-325-0445 | Fax: 416-325-9035 patrick.brownco@pc.ola.org

Township of Tiny 130 Balm Beach Road West Tiny, Ontario L0L 2J0 Phone: (705)526-4204 | Fax: (705)526-2372 | Toll Free: 1 866-939-TINY(8469) Website: www.tiny.ca Tiny Township

 

 

One Response to “Updated – Tuesday September 19: quarry, water issue near Waverley”

  1. We must look after our land or nothing will be left for future generations. Haven’t you figured this out yet? Obviously you don’t care. Is money that important that we make these sacrifices? Profit before People??? We are Aware and here to make change so beware fools.

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