Newsletter

Community Alert!

August 2006 - St Marys Cement Group is making house calls in our Community.

John Moroz, Vice President and General Manager, St Marys CBM Aggregates, visited several residents over the past couple of weeks. Their expressed intent was to determine residents' concerns with the proposed quarry.

The house-to-house visits are a public relations effort that fit into a larger strategy to "greenwash" the effects of the proposed Flamborough Quarry. The St Marys literature is friendly and appealing. It describes the company favorably making general promises about being a good "neighbour".

Please do not be disarmed by the personal contact and the comforting words. Regardless of which company's name is on the gate - the site is the wrong site; the facts are the facts; and the issues remain the same.

If you did not speak with Mr. Moroz personally, he may have left a flyer and a business card in your mailbox. If you haven't yet had a visit, you might receive one soon, either from Mr. Moroz or another company representative. The business card that residents have received invites contact and specifically states: "We want to hear from you... If you have any questions about St Marys Cement Group or about the proposed quarry project, please get in touch with us."

This invitation is an open opportunity to pose questions to the company. Questions you might raise are:

• How specifically would you plan to manage the safety of our water supply, both the quantity and the quality, when drilling and blasting will take place below the water table, and millions of gallons will be impacted daily by the proposed operation?
• How would you prevent industrial waste and accidental spills of oil and gasoline from leaking into our aquifer?
• How would you manage the safety of pedestrians, school buses, cyclists and local traffic in the presence of 1140 truck trips per day?
• How specifically would you prevent damage to a designated natural heritage site and environmentally sensitive area?
• How would you maintain current ecological corridors and wetlands?
• How would you protect the community's health and farmers' crops from rock dust?
• How would you mitigate the effects of noise along the haul routes from transport trucks?
• How would you manage the noise from blasting and industrial machinery?
• How would you protect home foundations from the effects of blasting?

Their contact information is as follows:

E-mail: communityinfo@stmaryscbm.com

Website: www.stmaryscement.com

Telephone: 1-866-602-0080.

We suggest that you call in with your questions. You will likely be asked for your contact information, including your e-mail address. But before you provide that information please consider that doing so will only make their public relations work easier to conduct.