Food and Water First
Food Water First2012 was the year of the mega-quarry
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- Published on Tuesday, 15 January 2013 13:09
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ON POLITICS with Rob Strang — Looking over the political issues of 2012, The withdrawal of the Highland Companies' application for a mega-quarry was without a doubt our most significant political event.
How wonderful that it was a positive outcome. It gives me hope that democracy will survive when citizens from all quarters rally to defy the misguided development plans of the government and refuse to allow our precious farmland or our water resources to be jeopardized.
Recall that it was the Liberal government’s State of the Aggregate Resources in Ontario Study (SAROS) report from the Ministry of Natural Resources in 2010 that concluded: “Mega-quarries and underground mining are the most feasible alternative sources of aggregate.”
Opinion column by Rob Strang, was published in the "Orangeville Banner", January 15, 2013
Top 10 of 2012: Mega-quarry no more
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- Published on Monday, 07 January 2013 19:43
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Just as in 2011, The E-B followed the mega-quarry developments and protests this year, but we also reported on the withdrawal of the Highland Companies application to build a quarry.
“(The Melancthon region) is literally the food basket of much of the province. That's one reason that people that live in the city and suburbs have a relationship with this land and should care about this land,” said Faisal Moola, director of science at the David Suzuki Foundation, during a media preview of Soupstock hosted on Sept. 27 on a farm north of Shelburne.
Posted in "The Enterprise Bulletin", Jan 4, 2013
Year in Review: ‘Little engine that could’ railroads Melancthon quarry
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- Published on Thursday, 03 January 2013 13:20
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Stop the Mega Quarry” signs are now being traded for ones with “Food and Water First” slogans.
With The Highland Companies’ quarry plans in Melancthon now cremated — opponents remain skeptical about what else the potato producer may have planned — the North Dufferin Agricultural Community Taskforce (NDACT) isn’t calling it quits.
Melancthon mega-quarry no more
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- Published on Thursday, 06 December 2012 13:35
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The cancellation of the “mega-quarry” in Melancthon, Ont. will increase cost pressures for Ontario’s construction industry, say industry stakeholders.
“(The fewer) the quarries we have, the higher the cost of aggregates, in turn that’s going to be passed onto the construction owners, which are the province and municipalities and in turn that’s going to be passed on to the taxpayers of Ontario,” said Geoff Wilkinson, executive director of the Ontario Road Builders’ Association (ORBA).
By Kelly LaPointe
Posted in the "Daily Commercial News", December 6, 2102
Company drops bid for mega quarry
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- Published on Thursday, 29 November 2012 23:24
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MELANCTHON TOWNSHIP
“It was a great day for democracy.”
That was the way Melancthon Mayor Bill Hill described the Nov. 21 decision by The Highland Companies to withdraw its application for a 2,300-acre mega quarry in the township.
The highly controversial quarry, which would have extracted an estimated one billion tonnes of limestone gravel over a 50 to 100-year span, was described as being one of the largest in North America.
The Highland Companies decision to abandon the project quashes any plans to restore a railway corridor through Dufferin County as part of the project, and also resulted in the resignation of company president John Lowndes.
The proposal has drawn considerable criticism since it was first announced two years ago - from politicians, farm and environmental groups, and councils concerned the quarry would lay waste to 2,300 acres of prime agricultural land and possibly impact ground water and local water courses, including the Grand River.
Highland Companies will continue to farm the land where it grows potatoes and packages them, with the help of 60 employees.
by Kris Svela
Published in "The Wellington Advertiser", Nov. 29, 2012