'Social impacts' must be considered when quarry application filed Bill Jackson

Cambridge Times

October 24, 2013

North Dumfries council should do more to protect residents from the adverse effects of quarrying.  That was the main message from environmental lawyer David Donnelly at a public presentation Tuesday on behalf of the Concerned Residents of North Dumfries (CRAND).

The group was started by eight residents who filed an appeal with the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) in October, 2012, following council’s approval of an application by Preston Sand and Gravel for the Henning Pit, situated at the corner of Cedar Creek Road and Dumfries Road.

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The OMB set aside 15 days for a hearing in January.  Donnelly said Preston Sand and Gravel will be paying for a lawyer and experts on behalf of township council. “Who’s paying for the residents?” he asked rhetorically. “You?”

There are currently 33 active pits in North Dumfries producing 4.4 million tonnes of aggregate per year, Donnelly said, and within two years, with several other applications recently approved or in the process of being approved, quarries within the township could be producing up to seven million tonnes of aggregate per year, “transforming the rural farming community to an industrial landscape.”

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