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Proposal to open a quarry in Brampton raises alarm bells
Thursday February 19 2009
- Brampton Guardian
Opposition is mounting to a Brampton Brick proposal to dig for shale in northwest Brampton that would affect “thousands” of residents.
“This is one of the most serious and potentially damaging things that could happen to northwest Brampton,” area Councillor John Hutton told a planning committee meeting Wednesday.
“I can’t stress enough the seriousness of this and the impact upon thousands and thousands of people if this goes ahead,” he said.
The life-span of the quarry, which is expected to produce 5.8 million tonnes of shale, would be approximately 30 years. Shale is used to produce clay bricks.
A group of 100 concerned citizens calling itself pit-STOP formed a year ago in opposition.
They will hold a meeting and protest adjacent to the site— west of Winston Churchill Boulevard and north of Bovaird Drive, just west of Norval— at 9 a.m. tomorrow (Saturday). For more information, go to www.pit-stop.ca.
Pit-STOP Chair Janet Kuzniar and member Barbara Gray have a long list of concerns, including dust, noise, truck traffic of six trucks an hour for 10 hours a day, and environmental damage, including what affect it will have on area wells and the water table.
“Brampton has very little remaining natural heritage and it’s a shame that it’s threatened by something that could have a devastating impact,” Kuzniar said.
Brampton Brick submitted a rezoning application to the city in December. It’s the first time the city has seen a quarry application, so staff were told to hire outside experts to review it, at the expense of the proponents.
“It’s imperative that you bring in outside help,” area Councillor Paul Palleschi told planning staff.
“We need a peer review, done by the very best hired guns that we can get, paid for by the proponent,” Hutton said. “We need to do everything we can to put an end to this as soon possible.”
Planning Commissioner John Corbett reassured councillors all agencies will be consulted and the review will be extensive.
“We agree 100 per cent on the seriousness of this application and we want to give it the full rigour that we can, be comprehensive and bring to bear the best experts,” Corbett said.
He also stressed keeping “clear, open lines of communication” with residents.
The 34.9 hectare (86 acre) site is zoned agricultural and the application is to change that zoning to industrial mineral extraction. An area 9.3 hectares (23 acres) would actually be excavated.
Michael Gagnon, a consultant with Gagnon, Law, Bozzo, said he works for residential developers who own, in total, 1,214 hectares (3,000 acres) around the site.
“We are very concerned about this proposal,” Gagnon said. “We’ve been working with the city for more than 10 years on a vision for the development of a complete community, which does not include a quarry.”
He said the site has a watercourse running through it, a woodlot, and many topical features.
“I can’t imagine a worse site for something like this,” Gagnon said. “I just can’t imagine this being in Brampton. There’s no need for it.”
Brampton Brick is North America’s single largest clay brick producer. Queenston shale is currently trucked 15 km from the Cheltenham Quarry to the company’s brick plant on Wanless Drive in north Brampton.
The city also set up a Joint Agency Review Team, which will include Halton Hills, and an Aggregate Review Committee to help with the review of the application.
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