News Archives
|
|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
September 2008 - November 2008Friday, November 14, 2008 - Flamborough Review - Horwath eyes quarry Residents opposed to St. Marys Cement's Flamborough quarry made their way to Queen's Park last week to support Hamilton Centre MPP Andrea Horwath as she challenged the Grits to protect the province's greenbelt. During a question and answer period, the NDP representative told Environment Minister John Gerretsen that the possible development of an open pit mine on the 11th Concession East at Milburough Line would not only threaten the drinking water of thousands of Carlisle residents, but that the application is also in contradiction of provincially protected land as part of the Natural Heritage system of the Greenbelt. Read the Full Article (109 KB) Friday, November 14, 2008 - Flamborough Review - Opinion Letter - Pump tests shouldn't proceed Don't worry, everything is fine. We are getting sick and tired of John Moroz, VP of Aggregates at St. Marys telling us that. Thank God the communities surrounding this potential mine have provided the talent and financial resources to hire our own experts. Otherwise, Phase Two Testing would likely be underway. The sad news is that this should not even be happening at all. Read the Full Article (172 KB) Thursday, November 13, 2008 - Halton Compass - MPP slams Liberals over quarry Andrea Horwath, the MPP from Hamilton Centre, has picked up the ball for opponents of the St marys quarry application on the Flamborough-Campbellville border. During the November 6 Question Period at Queen's Park, Horwath reapeatedly challenged Environment Minister John Gerretsen to put an end of the application. Read the Full Article (430 KB) Wednesday, November 12, 2008 - Community members travels to Queen's Park On November 6, 2008, about 45 members of our communities travelled by bus (services donated by Jennifer Trott - thanks!) to Queen's Park, Toronto. The purpose of our trip was to raise the profile of our issue in the Legislature and to continue to show that the St Marys proposed Flamborough quarry is of concern, not only to our communities, but also to Hamilton, Milton (Halton), the Greenbelt, and the province. And, we did! View the photos. As a Cabinet Minister, our local MPP, Hon. Ted McMeekin, does not get to ask questions in the Legislature - questions are asked by opposition members and government backbench members. So, this fall, FORCE approached an opposition member from the Hamilton area, with the help of our local champion, Councillor Margaret McCarthy. Hamilton Centre MPP, Andrea Horwath, is an effective member, solid on environmental protection and someone who fully understands the Carlisle water situation from her days on City Council. Ms. Horwath agreed to be our voice on November 6th and she was - strong, articulate, and committed to protection of the environment and our drinking water. Ms. Horwath started the day by sponsoring a press conference for Graham Flint, Chair and Spokesperson for FORCE, and Dr. Rick Smith, Executive Director of Environmental Defence, in the Queen's Park Media Studio. Councillor McCarthy and Councillor Jan Mowbray (Milton), stalwarts on our issue, were on hand to demonstrate the level of municipal concern and engagement. Following the press conference, Ms. Horwath stood up in the Legislature during Question Period and asked a member's question and supplementary to the Hon. John Gerretsen, Minister of the Environment. While the Minister wanted to talk about the pumping test, she echoed the recommendations of the Environment Commissioner of Ontario and called on the McGuinty government to look at the ‘big picture' and to screen out this kind of development that conflicts with the protection promised by its Greenbelt and Clean Water laws. Read the transcript (12 KB). Our communities' efforts to keep this issue top-of-mind for provincial decision-makers also supports the work of our local MPP, Hon. Ted McMeekin, who opposes the proposed quarry, and who continues to work at Queen's Park to educate and convince his colleagues about the significant problems and implications of the proposed quarry . Friday, November 7, 2008 - Hamilton Spectator - Quarry foes take battle to Queen's Park Hamilton Centre MPP Andrea Horwath brought the debate about a proposed quarry to Queen's Park yesterday — and she brought backup. About 40 Hamilton, Burlington, and Milton residents attended question period as Horwath asked Environment Minister John Gerretsen to stop the development of a limestone quarry in the Flamborough area. "The government needs to deal with the fact that this quarry needs to be denied," Horwath said. "We want them to take a stand." Read the Full Article (68 KB) Friday, November 7, 2008 - Flamborough Review - MOE rejects quarry pump test results Unacceptable data results from pump tests conducted by St. Marys Cement (SMC) three months ago have prompted the Ministry of Environment (MOE) to instruct the aggregate company to repeat the tests. Excessive rainfall during the eight-day test period in July was "probably the main reason" that the results of the Phase 1 testing are not acceptable "in providing an adequate baseline to help characterize local conditions of groundwater," said Carl Slater, technical support manager for the MOE's West Central Region office in Hamilton. Read the Full Article (88 KB) Thursday, November 6, 2008 - Hamilton Spectator - Test at quarry site must be done over St. Marys Cement must redo a controversial water-pumping test at the site of its proposed limestone quarry northeast of Carlisle, on the borders of Burlington and Milton. The Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) has rejected results of testing in July, saying heavy rain made the data unreliable. Read the Full Article (57 KB) Thursday, October 30, 2008 - Halton Compass - St Marys looks to alter GRS testing The groundwater recirculation testing being done by St Marys on their proposed quarry site bordering Campbellville and Flamborough may get a tweaking before Round Two. That revelation came to light when three weeks ago Flamborough Councillor Margaret McCarthy held an info-update meeting in Hamilton with the Combined Agency Review Team (CART) members, as well as Milton Councillors Jan Mowbray and Cindy Lunau and Burlington Councillor John Taylor, all of whom have wards bordering the proposed quarry. Read the Full Article (476 KB) Thursday, October 30, 2008 - "Rain, Rain, Go Away" - St Marys told to test another day - MOE says July 2008 test data is unacceptable due to rain Today, FORCE learned that the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) has taken decisive action with respect to St Marys CBM proposed Flamborough quarry. MOE informed St Marys that its Phase 1 pump test conducted during July 2008 generated unacceptable data results. The unacceptable data resulted from excessive rainfall before, during, and after the pumping test. Significant rainfall compromised the results of surface and groundwater monitoring and made interpretation challenging. MOE has told St Marys that the Phase 1 pump test must be repeated before the company will be authorized to move forward with any further testing. It was clear to our community from the start, given the weather conditions, that the test data would be unreliable, yet once again, St Marys sang its familiar tune of "Don't Worry, Be Happy" claiming the rain had no impact and the data from its test was good. We commend MOE for taking decisive action to ensure sound science. Read the Full FORCE Press Release (153 KB) MOE Letter to St Marys (79 KB) Monday, October 27, 2008 - Ontario Environment Commissioner Releases 2007/8 Annual Report Ontario Environment Commissioner, Gord Miller, issued his Annual Report titled "Getting to K(NO)w". The Report is premised on a quote by Josh Billings "One half of the troubles of this life can be traced to saying yes too quickly and not saying no soon enough." The Report is critical of the shortcoming, and the need for better public consultation on many important environmental issues and indicates that "It's essential for the public to participate fully in decisions that have such profound implications for our environment and our economy. The 2006/7 Annual Report recommended a process that would screen out early stage proposals for pits and quarries that conflict with identified natural heritage or source water protection values. The Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) reponded by stating that the current process is "adequate". The ECO remains concerned that natural heritage features and functions are not adequately protected by Ontario’s land use planning system. Topics of interest include:
To read the full report, visit http://www.ecoissues.ca/wiki//index.php?title=List_of_ECO_Reports_to_the_Legislature. Supplementary material can be found at http://www.ecoissues.ca/wiki//index.php?title=List_of_ECO_Reports_to_the_Legislature. Friday, October 10, 2008 - Flamborough Review - Opinion Letter - Quarry impacts will be far-reaching Most of the citizens in the northeast part of Flamborough are determined to protect our water from the would-be new neighbor, St. Marys Cement. Who wouldn't want to protect water that is so naturally clean that it is bottled and shipped far and wide? It makes sense. The same citizens have shown their concern with the proposal to turn our quiet community into an open pit mine, shipping 1,000 trucks a day through our school bus routes and past our doorsteps, making travel presumably somewhat more perilous by foot, bicycle, or motor vehicle. Who wouldn't want to protect the quiet setting that we have grown to love? It makes sense. Read the Full Article (86 KB) Friday, October 3, 2008 - Community Expert Releases Review of Phase 1 Pump Test Report Community Expert, Dr. Ken Raven, PEng, PGeo, of INTERA Engineering Ltd released his Review of St Marys Phase 1 Pumping Test Report. The St Marys Cement Phase 1 pump test was authorized under a Permit to Take Water (PTTW) issued by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) in July of this year. Our Expert challenges St Marys test results documenting that the rainfall in July 2008 during this test was nearly 50% greater than rainfall during a November 2004 test where MOE questioned the reliability of data and its interpretation due to excessive rainfall. Dr. Raven notes that MOE should be consistent with its position on the 2004 test. Read the Submission to MOE (89 KB) Read the Full Review (78 KB) Friday, September 19, 2008 - Flamborough Review - FORCE meeting focuses on water, haul routes More than 100 community residents turned out for the FORCE Friends of Rural Communities and the Environment) annual general meeting this week at Lawson Park, where the anti-quarry group stressed the importance of speaking up for the kind of community that residents want. Following a series of pump tests carried out at the proposed St. Marys quarry site this summer, the organization's chair took the opportunity to go over the results. Read the Full Article (144 KB) Tuesday, September 16, 2008 - Ontario Farmer - Protect Greenbelf farmland from industrial corporate greed. If the greenbelt and source protection laws really mean something to the McGuinty government and his Ministers need to honour the original purposes of those lawss and act to protect our farmland and drinking water from the very real threat of industrial corporate greed. Read the Full Article (372 KB) Friday, September 12, 2008 - Flamborough Review - Opinion Letter - Testing, Testing St. Marys Cement (SMC) has recently completed its first stage of testing for its Permit to Take Water(PTTW) for the proposed quarry in East Flamborough. I live across the road from these lands and I am thankful that I suffered no ill effects from the first test. While I realize the Ministry of Environment (MOE) has taken every precaution to ensure the residents' safety, I am confused by their permission for the second and third test. Read the Full Article (84 KB) Friday, September 5, 2008 - Flamborough Review - Opinion Letter - Water results on tap Our family lives across from the proposed St. Marys Cement (SMC) Flamborough quarry and we feel that our first line of defence has fallen under the boot. The Ministry of the Environment (MOE) has permitted a water test that proves nothing except that the MOE cannot say "no." Read the Full Article (85 KB) Friday, September 5, 2008 - Flamborough Review - SMC test results announced A series of pump tests done this summer at the proposed St. Marys quarry in northeastern Flamborough showed no effect on groundwater levels beyond 500 metres of the pumping well used to simulate the impacts that the quarry would have on the water in the area, a hydrogeologist said Tuesday. Read the Full Article (86 KB) Friday, September 5, 2008 - Canadian Champion - Cyclists to hit road in opposition of St. Marys quarry proposal Cyclists from as far away as Brampton and Oakville will join their local counterparts Sunday for the third annual Tour de Force bike rally aimed at demonstrating the cycling community's opposition to the proposed St. Marys Flamborough Quarry. Read the Full Article (35 KB) Friday, September 3, 2008 - Hamilton Spectator - St. Marys: Pump tests didn't hurt area wells St. Marys Cement says a water-pumping test at the site of its proposed limestone quarry had no impact on groundwater off its property and no effect on drinking water wells in the area north of Carlisle. Detailed results will go to the Ontario Environment Ministry for study prior to a proposed second round of testing the company wants to conduct this fall. Read the Full Article (35 KB) |
Our Partners:
Environmental Defence 
Williams Distinctive Gems Sales Flyer(133 KB) |
Together we will succeed!
|
