LETTER: Aggregrate mining on or near Tiny’s groundwater recharge zones ‘crime against nature’
(Brent Calver/Western Wheel)
From MidlandToday, December 21, 2021
Letter to the editor
Dear Editor,
Councillor Wishart of Tiny Township is spot on when he says: “This whole thing is happening in the wrong place in the world.”
Aggregate mining in this particular environmentally critical area is reckless and irresponsible and most importantly: completely unnecessary.
There are numerous areas in the Province of Ontario, where aggregate mining can be done with no risks to something so very important as our Ontario groundwater. Do not mine aggregate near or on a recharge zone for the purest water in the world.
No applications should be approved in this particular area. It should be considered a crime against nature to do so.
Dr. John Cherry–distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Waterloo and an internationally recognized groundwater expert clearly states that quarry operations should never take place on recharge zones, especially for aquifers which are this pure because pristine groundwater is so very rare in the world.
William Shotyk, professor and Bocock Chair for Agriculture and the Environment at the University of Alberta says this water is a miracle of nature; it’s gold standard water.
Geochemist Michael Powell says, “It is a Canadian treasure that’s known globally.”
This water is the reference water, the standard against which others are measured, in laboratories in Canada and Europe.
If the water becomes contaminated/polluted by an unforeseen accident, whether by a liner leak or by the aggregate mining itself, who will be accountable, the Tiny Township councillors? Will the aggregate company be fined?
Once it’s destroyed, no amount of fines will ever bring the purity of the water back; it will be lost forever.
This groundwater is so important, its fate should not be left in the hands of a few Tiny Township councillors, nor does it seem that the provincial government will protect it. (The proponents are two Ontario corporations and the approval authority is the province).
The federal government must step in and place a moratorium on aggregate mining in this particular environmentally sensitive area.
Surely, Canada will not jeopardize the “gold standard” of water for aggregate, when there are other places in this province in which to mine it.
Donna Deneault
Victoria Harbour
For more information go to: https://saveourwatertiny.wordpress.com/
Read the letter here
I totally agree. This letter explains clearly why this precious groundwater should be protected. And yes, protecting groundwater is an important Canadian issue. Water is not a resource to be exploited and wasted for corporate profit. Water is literally LIFE. Without clean water there is no life. Canada needs to develop cohesive laws to protect groundwater. Personally I do not understand why there are not better laws to protect groundwater, not only from being polluted, but also to limit the quantity used by industry. Canada behaves like groundwater is unlimited, but it is not. I do not understand why corporations get to use it so cheap, they pay peanuts, so they waste it. For example the aggregate company wants to draw millions of gallons a day to wash gravel. If they had to pay the same rate as consumers, I’m sure they would find ways to use less water!! Canadian government needs to develop a groundwater protection policy and laws to stop the corporations from literally “draining away” Canada’s clean water, this water is literally life itself, and it is our job to protect it .