Rock quarry hearing

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Concerned residents packed into a town hall today for the start of an Ontario municipal board hearing into a new rock quarry. “Hidden Quarry” is between Acton and Rockwood, and although the municipalities are opposed to the business, for safety and water concerns, the company says they have no need to worry.

James Dick already has trucks of aggregate trundling through the town of Acton, the family-owned business says it is a local player in a field of multinational giants. If its new mine is approved at this site between Acton and Rockwood, it would extract rock used to make what the company calls the highest-quality concrete. The proposed quarry is across Hwy 7 and would be the main route for trucks filled with rock mined from the quarry. By some estimates, 38 trucks an hour, headed for downtown Acton.

“There are currently 270-odd fewer thousand truckloads coming out of Halton now, and this will add back 10% but it won’t be near what it was 15 years ago.” Greg Sweetnam, James Dick construction.

Doug Tripp speaks for a coalition of more than 1100 residents opposed to hidden quarry. They’re also concerned about the blasting used in the mining process, in part because rocks could fly into homes and traffic and also because of the vibration. The municipal board will hear from experts from all sides over the next several weeks.