ast week the company behind the plan for the mega quarry, south of Singhampton, announced that as a result of a heated citizen protest, they are abandoning their plans for what would have been the second largest open pit quarry in North America.
But we cannot breathe easy yet.
Because the Walker Industries quarry expansion, still in the works, is even closer to all of us in Sothern Georgian Bay and sits squarely on the Niagara Escarpment, just up the hill from Duntroon.
The Niagara Escarpment is one of the few world biospheres in Ontario and their mandate is to preserve and protect our wonderful escarpment.
Yet last year the OMB voted to approve the expansion.
And to add insult to injury, Clearview Township not only voted to approve the expansion, but agreed to sell Walker the historic road running west from Duntroon straight up the mountain so they can rip it up, for the aggregate below.
Is there any hope? Yes the Niagara Escarpment Commission has decided to seek a judicial review of the OMB decision.
Will the Duntroon quarry meet the same fate as the Mega Quarry? The Clearview Community Coalition has worked hard and long to build a case against the quarry, but will the judges listen?
Only time will tell. But may those same judges, as they make their decision, remember well, Canadian singer Sara Harmer’s words in her song, Escarpment Blues..
“If they blow a hole in my backyard
Everyone is gonna run away
The creeks won’t flow to the Great lakes below
Will the water in the wells be OK!
