The fury of Tyandaga rains on Aldershot Quarry
Residents complain excavations near their back yards will harm species and destroy a ‘natural environment’
BURLINGTON — Residents of a Burlington area bordering a quarry are opposed to the mine’s next phase of excavations, believing it will threaten their environment, health and well-being.
The dilemma is that the quarry’s licence to operate predates their subdivision by 25 years.
The project:
Meridian Brick, owner of the Aldershot Quarry, will start excavating closer to a residential subdivision in Tyandaga within two years.
The quarry is divided by a road, park and hydro corridor into west, central and east sections. The new mining will be in the east.
The west (18 hectares) and central (21.9 hectares) sections — farthest from the houses and mined on a large scale since 2001 — will be depleted in three to eight years.
Mining the east section (13.5 hectares) abutting the edge of the Tyandaga area, will keep the quarry going another 25 to 30 years.
The excavated clay shale is used to make bricks at two Meridian plants — one at the west quarry and one in northeast Burlington. The quarry and plants employ 140 people.
Meridian says it produces 55 per cent of Canada’s clay brick — 45 per cent of it in Burlington.
The east quarry’s boundary, now a forest, is 15 to 20 metres from back yards on Westhaven Drive’s north end and 150 metres on the south. Half of Westhaven’s 85 homes back onto the quarry.
Key issues:
Meridian will cut 9,000 trees on the east quarry.
Residents say mining there means more noise, harmful dust, deforestation, and loss of wildlife habitat and rare plants. They want the city to peer-review Meridian studies on these.
Residents fear property values will drop by eight to 40 per cent.
Environmentalists want to protect the “prime forest” of trees they say is habitat to at-risk and endangered species.
Indigenous artifacts have been found, requiring further study.
Meridian has a provincial licence dating back to 1972 from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) that allows it to mine the quarry.
City councillors say they have no jurisdiction here, but residents want them to fight for their interests.
Residents are asking the province for an environmental review and an order to stop or postpone it. They are also asking the city to push for redevelopment of the quarry.
The city and Halton Region approved the Tyandaga West subdivision in 1997 despite resident opposition. Homebuyers were to be warned on title of future quarry expansion but say they weren’t.
Residents’ position:
Current air quality and noise monitoring and enforcement are inadequate or non-existent, and there is significant noise already. There is no comprehensive plan on how the east quarry will be monitored to ensure compliance.
The expansion will degrade the environment, harm wetlands and species at risk like the Jefferson Salamander and destroy a “continuous natural environment.”
Meridian-held public meetings did not provide adequate answers.
City councillors have abandoned them, saying it’s a provincial matter.
David Donnelly — lawyer for the Tyandaga Environmental Coalition (TEC) representing the residents — says it is foolish for Meridian to start cutting trees when “nobody, not TEC, not the city, not the province, and certainly not Meridian, know the extent of the environment features of the lands.”
Donnelly argues there are no other major forests like this left in Burlington and the city should fight to protect it.
He denounces the city’s position about provincial jurisdiction as a poor way to represent its residents. “Instead, you fight for them,” he says. “It’s the city’s responsibility to ensure these people are treated fairly.”
Donnelly says home buyers were not informed about a likely quarry expansion. “Not one person I met was warned about a possible quarry expansion.”
He argues the city and region are obliged to peer-review Meridian’s studies to ensure the residents are protected.
TEC and Donnelly contend it is more lucrative for Meridian to develop or sell its lands for development and that the city should lead with this idea because it’s a happy solution for everyone.
TEC co-chair Fran Fendelet worries about harmful quarry dust and its health impacts, both accumulative and incremental. “We already have an air quality problem.”
Meridian’s position:
Closing the quarry would create a ripple affecting hundreds of jobs.
All the completed new studies confirm what the old ones showed when the subdivision was built.
Meridian spokesperson Patrick Kelly says residents are against the east quarry “because they perceive it as being worse than it is. For the most part, neighbours won’t know there is a quarry there. All the activity will be quite below the ground level.”
The quarry meets all provincial regulations.
Meridian informed residents of its intent to start on the east quarry and voluntarily initiated dust, noise and other technical studies.
“We just wanted to confirm the previous studies were valid and wanted to satisfy the neighbours,” says Kelly. “We wanted to make sure we addressed their concerns.”
City of Burlington’s position:
Deputy city manager Mary Lou Tanner says the quarry expansion “is a provincial matter” governed by the Aggregate Resources Act.
Mayor Rick Goldring
Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring says he is doing everything he can to help, including speaking to the local MPP and provincial officials. He says he met with staff from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests and Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change as recently as December.
Goldring has asked Meridian to provide more information and has met with former Ontario Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller over the issue.
“I have been involved in a significant way” to try to get residents “all the information they’re looking for” and make sure there are “zero impacts or insignificant impacts” on them.
As for developing the quarry into other uses, Goldring says it can’t happen. The land is in the Greenbelt and by provincial law can only be used for extraction. “The licence is there. It is a regulated land use. No mistakes have been made as to where we are today.”
He won’t comment on complaints about a lack of warning on property titles because it happened 20 years ago. “I am interested in how we’re going to deal with this issue.”
MNRF position:
Spokesperson Jolanta Kowalski says Meridian is permitted to remove the trees.
“Aggregate extraction is considered an interim land use, and upon completion of extraction, the licensee will be required to rehabilitate the site … For the east quarry, this means 100 per cent forest cover will be restored.”
She adds: “Specific dust control measures, setbacks and treed buffers are specified on the (quarry) site plan … in order to mitigate dust and noise and protect human health.”
Meridian was not required to undertake studies for the expansion.
Next key steps:
Meridian plans to clear trees in stages, starting in March.
Some Meridian studies continue, including on archeology and salamanders.
TEC awaits response on its requests for environmental review and a minister’s order prohibiting the expansion.
Goldring is working on a community meeting soon to ensure all resident questions are answered.