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Another ‘Nail’ Hammered in ‘Coffin’ for St Marys Cement

ERT Dismisses Company’s Appeal and Upholds MOE’s Decision to Deny Permit

FORCE has received notice that the Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT) has dismissed St Mary’s Cement’s appeal and upheld the Ministry of the Environment’s (MOE) decision to deny the company a Permit to Take Water (PTTW).Read More...

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It's not over...yeT!

• Did you know that St Marys Cement is attempting to have the Ministerial Zoning Order (MZO) that stopped the proposed Flamborough Quarry cancelled?
• Did you know that the company has requested a hearing before the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) regarding the MZO?
• Did you know that St Marys Cement has applied for yet another Permit To Take Water (PTTW)? Did you know that the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) has said No?
• Did you know that the company has now appealed the permit refusal to the Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT)?

St Marys Cement has been told NO. In our democratic system, however, the company has 'appeal rights'. Unfortunately for our Communities, they have chosen to use them. This means that we are facing costly, and possibly lengthy, hearings beginning this fall.

Whether you are new to the issue, or have been engaged for the entire journey, we invite you to further explore the information on this website. Read our story. Watch the video links to hear some of our neighbours talk about their real concerns. Catch up on the latest updates. Stay informed and engaged.

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Imagine, if you can, what it would be like if this proposed quarry were ever approved.

• A 164 acre hole. That's the size of 124 NFL football fields!
• An excavation that, in places, is 40 metres or 130 feet deep. That's the depth of a 10 storey building!
• Some 90 million litres of water per day flowing in and then out of that hole. That's an amount of water equivalent to 36 Olympic sized swimming pools! Or described another way, that's approximately 20 times the maximum volume that the local Carlisle Municipal System is allowed to pump! The proponent's technical reports indicate quarry dewatering would have negative impacts. A theoretical quarry water recirculation system, unproven on the site, is proposed as the solution.
• Up to 820 trucks entering and leaving the area. That's over 1,600 trucks trips per day, during peak periods, or one truck movement every 26 seconds! The company's final transportation study with preferred haul route(s) is still pending. We say no haul route is a good route.

We hope you will see why our Communities have chosen to invest what limited time and financial resources we have to stand up for what we believe is right. We also hope you will recognize our Communities' accomplishments, to date, and help us to build on lessons learned. With the MZO freezing the zoning on the lands and all governments and agencies objecting to the proposal, we have done what few communities have been able to do; we've turned the momentum in our Communities' favour.

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Our Communities' Accomplishments

• We adopted a professional, substantive, science based approach.
• We learned the 'rules of the game' for the approvals processes and met them step by step.
• We built community and stakeholder consensus with school, farm and other organizations – our Communities sent in more than 1200 objection letters and (re) confirmations!
• We worked with and gained alignment with the staff and elected representatives of all the relevant municipal and provincial governments, including agency concerns from the conservation authority and medical officers of health/public health departments. They echoed many of our concerns in their submissions.
• We secured support from our local and area members from all the major political parties – Conservative, Liberal and NDP. They all agree this is the wrong development for our Communities.

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Learn what you can do to help our community bring an end to this.

We need to keep doing what we have been doing – pooling our resources and hiring the right experts to make our case - to make sure our voices are heard in those hearings – to support our local and provincial governments – to get this proposed quarry stopped once and for all. The momentum is in our favour. Let's make the most of it.

• Add your voice and support!
• Volunteer to help in whatever way suits your skills and time availability.
• Make a financial commitment to invest in our Communities and protect what we value.

In the end, we intend to preserve a very special area for generations to come – to safeguard our drinking water, to ensure we can safely travel on our local roadways, to preserve our environment, and to protect our families, homes, farms, businesses, and schools. We hope that you will choose to add your support at this time, as well, because after all,