Earth Matters by Jacqueline Milner – An Urgent Plea – Please Email Premier McGuinty – April 26, 2011 – Cornwall Ontario

Cornwall ON – Earth Matters has received a note from a concerned reader who is very concerned about an open pit mine which has been proposed in Melancthon Township on Hwy 124, just north of Shelburne.
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The Highland Companies (owned by a Boston Hedge Fund) has filed an application for a 2,300 acre aggregate mine. It would be the largest quarry in Ontario and the second largest in North America.
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This is prime agricultural land and the Niagara Escarpment runs along its border. The Council of Canadians has been working with local groups to help stop this open pit mine from being created because of the extraordinary impacts it will have on the community, the watersheds, Ontario’s food supply and on the drinking water of more than one million people which originates in this area.  Clearly a case of Profit versus Food and Water. 

The Highlands company started buying farmland in Melancthon several years ago saying they wanted to become the province’s largest potato growing operation, which made sense to local farmers as the area is well known for its particularly high quality soil and micro-climate. About one quarter of the all the potatoes eaten in the Greater Toronto Area come from there. After many local farmers had sold their farms the real motives of the company became apparent. Under that rich and rare soil is a fortune in high quality limestone worth upwards of eight billion dollars. The company no owns around 8000 acres of land and has applied for permission to mine 2400 acres.

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There is little doubt that they intend to excavate the entire 8000+ acres. To do so, Highland will strip off all that precious soil then blast their way down more than 200 feet below the water table. From the area around the proposed mine site spring the headwaters of river systems that are important drinking water sources for more than one million people downstream.
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The Nottawasaga River, the Grand River and the Pine River systems will all be threatened by the mine’s 600 million litre per day dewatering pumps. Massive amounts of toxic demolition explosives will be used to smash the limestone and hundreds of dump trucks per hour will enter and leave the site, 24/7. The company claims that this is all allowable under Ontario’s aggregate extraction laws both those laws couldn’t be more favourable to the industry or more rigged against communities that want to protect their water. 

Please get involved.

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Demand an extension to the ridiculously short 45 day period allowed for objecting to the quarry.  Send an email to Premier McGuinty, dmcquinty.mpp.co@liveral.ola.org by April 26th asking him to extend the comment period on this project to August 26th allowing all parties the time to study the 3000+ page Highlands Company application. 

Join the Facebook group “Stop the Quarry”  www.Facebook.com/no.mega.quarry
Your support and immediate attention will make a difference

Your comments are encouraged and welcome below or to earthmatters@cornwallfreenews.com

13 Comments

  1. Question for you Jacqueline: Are you in support of laws giving Mother Nature human rights?

    How did you like how Ontario sold electricity at a lost during earth day, in order to look good? Was that the real reason? The article goes on to say -“The negative export price is not available to regular Ontario consumers” – of course!

  2. WHY is the negative export price not available to us Ontarians? Why should our neighbours East, West and South of us pay less than we do?

  3. The democratic rights of rural Ontario has been trampled on with the Green Energy Act. Hundreds of wind turbines have been approved with little to no due diligence. Why would this be any different. The McGuinty Liberals do not work for you, they work for the large multi-national corporations who are developing these questionable projects.

  4. @tnpreacher555…I support respect for all people and all living things.

  5. So the next question is – Is Mother Earth living? In your eyes is Mother Gaia a person? A person to respect, to love, and yes, to worship! New Age Pagan religion? Where all environmentalists are Her priest and priestess, and the public school system is Her school of the prophets, and not last but lease abortion is the sacrament of life. “I support respect for all people and all living things” – including the unborn? I think I asked that question before, still no answer.

    Deu 5:7 -10 “Thou shalt have none other gods before me. Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments”.

  6. “Demand an extension to the ridiculously short 45 day period allowed for objecting to the quarry”
    Jacqueline
    This is an interesting article. Thanx for your opinions
    How can you take a person seriously when they offer nothing more than an I need more time? What is the duration of the extension and what do you need the extension for?
    I would hope with of all the environmental and safety information available to people this is not to gather more information. You are trying to slow a machine with no driver and Mc guilty is an idiot and cannot understand structured data let alone vague requests.
    The solution you are tendering is nothing more than a cog in the wheel of growth and a hindrance to the people trying to stop this project. You are going about it the wrong way and in the end it will cost us more money.
    On a personal note, 45 days is more than sufficient time to prepare a defense. If you disagree then perhaps you are not as informed on the issues that concern you.

    Good Luck!

  7. I admire people who have an issue and try to do something about it, good for you.

    Is McGuinty taking emails again? When people were complaining about the HST he said to write a letter to the editor. And people complain about Harper being a bully!

  8. @tnpreacher555…I believe my response already given to you clearly states my position.
    @smee…I am certain your offers of help would be greatly appreciated by the citizens concerned about this quarry. You can contact them through their website at
    http://www.citizensalliance.ca
    @Eric…I was given the following e-mail contact information for McGuinty after the article was published.
    https://correspondence.premier.gov.on.ca/en/feedback/feedback.aspx
    Your note to him, even if after the deadline will also make a difference.
    Thank you all for your feedback. Always encouraged and appreciated.
    Best regards,

  9. But why are you afraid to say I am pro-abortion, or pro-life? Simple, clear cut, no doubt left!
    “I support respect for all people and all living things” – so you are pro life? Against abortion?

  10. You realize, Jacqueline, that if you care about the environment, you will go to hell.
    I understand that the preacher and God have been discussing your fate.
    It must be daunting to be up against the village idiot.

  11. “That if you care about the environment, you will go to hell” – there is a big difference in caring for God’s creation and being a good steward, and worshiping it rather than the Creator. “Human rights for Mother Gaia”!!!!!!!!!!!!

    The consequences of Earth Worship – “So God let these people go their own way. They did what they wanted to do, and their filthy thoughts made them do shameful things with their bodies. They gave up the truth about God for a lie, and they worshiped God’s creation instead of God, who will be praised forever. Amen”(Rom.1:24-25). The result – judgment: sin with more sin as we can see what follows:

    “God let them follow their own evil desires. Women no longer wanted to have sex in a natural way, and they did things with each other that were not natural. Men behaved in the same way. They stopped wanting to have sex with women and had strong desires for sex with other men. They did shameful things with each other, and what has happened to them is punishment for their foolish deeds. Since these people refused even to think about God, he let their useless minds rule over them. That’s why they do all sorts of indecent things” (Rom 1:26 – 28).

  12. FYI…a response received regarding the quarry.

    Dear Jacqueline:

    Thank you for your e-mail of April 25, 2011 to Minister Wilkinson regarding the proposal by Highland Companies to develop a limestone quarry in Melancthon Township, Dufferin County. I have been asked to provide the following information on behalf of the Ministry of the Environment (MOE).

    The MOE is always pleased to hear from Ontarians who understand the importance of managing and conserving the province’s resources. It is critical to find a balance between protecting water sources and agricultural lands and the need for aggregate resources in our growing province. This important work falls under the jurisdiction of several provincial ministries including the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH), the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) and the MOE, as well as municipal authorities.

    The MNR is the lead approving authority for quarries under the province’s Aggregate Resources Act. The MNR confirmed receipt of the company’s application on January 27, 2011. On February 28, 2011, the MNR deemed the application complete and indicated the company could proceed with Notification and Consultation procedures as described in the Provincial Standards for a Category 2 (below the water table) application for a licence. Information about the MNR’s oversight for quarries is posted on the website at http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/Aggregates/2ColumnSubPage/STEL02_167065.html.

    The MMAH is the approving authority for Official Plan changes which will also be required to establish a quarry. OMAFRA deals with matters involving agricultural lands.

    For its part, the MOE thoroughly examines the technical reports which must be submitted in support of quarry and planning applications to ensure water and ecological resources are adequately protected and that any proposed protective measures are adequately tested. On March 4, 2011, the company delivered the completed application to the MOE’s Hamilton Regional Office with a cover letter indicating that the start date of the 45-day comment period for the posting on the Environmental Registry was March 11, 2011.

    To submit formal comments to the MNR’s posting on the Environmental Registry, please visit http://www.ebr.gov.on.ca and search under posting #011-2864. I understand the comment period has been extended until July 11, 2011. For information about the posting, please contact Mr. Craig Laing, Aggregate Resources Officer, Midhurst District, Ministry of Natural Resources, at 705-725-7532.

    As a concerned stakeholder, you are encouraged to participate in consultations and public information sessions relating to the company’s proposal. The Township of Melancthon held a public information session on March 26th. For more information, or to convey your concerns about this proposal directly to the township, you can visit the township’s website at http://melancthontownship.ca/. Your concerns have also been shared with MOE staff in our West Central Regional Office.

    Thank you for bringing your comments and concerns to the attention of the MOE.

    Sincerely,

    Jeff Arp
    Supervisor
    Corporate Correspondence Unit

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