Halton Hills residents worry about new quarry

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Thousands of people in Halton Hills and Wellington County are fighting to stop a quarry from becoming their neighbour. They say the impact on their properties and the environment would be disastrous.

Leanne Girardi is afraid her water well will dry up if James Dick Construction gets the licence from the Ontario municipal board to put a quarry here. So she and 1000 others have formed a concerned residents coalition to fight the quarry.

“We have at this point over the last 2 years presented more than 20 scientific delegations to the Guelph Eramosa township council, we’ve employed contracted experts.” explained Linda Sword who is a concerned residents coalition member.

The concerned residents coalition isn’t against quarries altogether, what they are against is where they are sometimes located. The mayor of Halton Hills says Highway 7 isn’t built to see the quarry’s trucks come through. “They’ll be bringing 26 dumptrucks each way per hour for the next 15-20 years and that’s 6am to 6pm.”

The coalition says dynamite blasting at the quarry will crack nearby homes foundations, destroy wetlands, and contaminate water that livestock and crops need to survive. James Dick Construction says that’s not true and sent this statement.

“James Dick Construction has been working to address the concerns of the residents over the last two and half years and has satisfied the professional independent reviews of the provincial government ministries, the grand river conservation authority the ministry of culture and the professionals hired by Guelph Eramosa township.”

Residents worry there are no assurances that James Dick Construction would compensate for any damages but the company said in an email today:

“JDC would take responsibility for impacts from the quarry. There is a blasting design and monitoring plan as well as a robust water table and well monitoring plan to ensure impacts will not occur off site.”

The Ontario municipal board will hold a prehearing the morning of November 9th at the Guelph Eramosa municipal building.