Dear Friends, community members and supporters,
As a resident of Dufferin-Caledon for over 20 years, I am writing today to ask for your help.
You have likely heard about the proposed mega-quarry in Melancthon Township – the one that proposes to excavate 2,300 acres of farmland – the size of 2,000 football fields and deeper than Niagara Falls.
This issue affects us all – the justification for such a large quantity of aggregates is the demand for concrete around the province.
For example, in Dufferin-Caledon, south of the Green Belt, there are about 28,000 acres of farmland on the Peel plain which will ultimately be developed. If the mega-quarry goes ahead we are destroying thousands of acres of farmland in Melancthon to pave over tens of thousands of acres in southern Caledon and other ridings across the GTA.
It’s clear that there is something fundamentally wrong with this scenario.
Located at the headwaters of five major river systems, the quarry would manage and manipulate about 600 million litres of water every day- that is approximately 25% of Ontario’s average daily water usage! Despite the size and impact of this massive quarry, this project does not require an Environmental Assessment. Instead, it is subject to approval by Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) through the less rigorous Aggregate Resources Act.
Please take a few minutes to join me, community members and a increasing numbers of concerned Ontarians and Canadians who do not want this mega-quarry that threatens our water and farmland.
There are four days left to register a comment to MNR in opposition to the quarry via the Environment Registry. Please submit your comment under the Environmental Bill of Rights here before July 11. For an example, please find Mike Schreiner’s submission here.
You can also write John Wilkinson, Minister of the Environment, asking him to designate this project for a full Environmental Assessment. A sample letter is available here and may be sent to the address below.
Thanks for taking the time to make a difference.
Sincerely,
Rob Strang
Candidate, Dufferin Caledon
Deputy Leader – Green Party of Ontario