Columnist takes a closer look at quarry planHave you ever been mesmerized by looking down 165 feet to the bottom of the Niagara gorge?
You may soon have the opportunity to be mesmerized locally by gazing down 232 feet to the bottom of an orifice in Melancthon Township, only fifteen miles north of Orangeville (as the buzzard flies). This opportunity is based on plans to begin the excavation of the largest open pit mine in Canada, or the second largest in North America. It would encompass an area one-third the size of Toronto. Your first reaction might be to ask, “So what does that have to do with me here in Orangeville?”
The proponent of this limestone quarry in Melancthon is The Highland Companies, a Boston-based numbered holding company. I am not an engineer, geologist, or even a lawyer, instead I taught high school mathematics for a period of 34 years.
During that time, my years were spent as a problem solver, working with students analysing the pros and cons of arguments. The controversy to excavate a quarry in Melancthon seems, to me, to be a matter of dollars and cents, rather than common sense.
When I noticed a story in the Orangeville Banner on Earth Day that a group of concerned local citizens and members of the Turtle Clan Mohawk native people, led by Danny Beaton, planned to walk from Toronto’s Queen’s Park to Melancthon in protest of the proposed quarry, I thought the subject worth investigating.
Since I don’t like dealing with any potential problem without knowing the facts, I decided to find out as much information as possible about the quarry. After scouting around and talking to some of my friends, I learned a gentleman named Jim Black owned a farm in Melancthon in the eye of the storm of controversy.
It was a sunny Friday afternoon when I made the trek by van to Jim’s 200-acre farm north of Hornings Mills, on the west side of County Road 124. I had made no prior arrangements to speak with Jim. I just showed up.
When I entered the farm yard my greeting was the heady aroma of cattle manure, its source being two beige bovines chewing on their cuds while reclining behind a fenced enclosure. I asked a farmhand near the barn, “Excuse me, is Jim Black around?” “Ya he’s in the shed painting.” “Great,” I replied, “maybe I can chat with him while he’s working.”
When I entered the drive shed, the earthy farm aroma changed to one of paint and thinner fumes. I expected to find Jim wielding a paint brush and bucket of paint. Instead, I found him wearing coveralls, rubber boots and respirator as he was operating a spray gun with which he applied a coat of dark red paint to a farm implement.
I explained to Jim that I hoped to gain as much information as possible about the proposed quarry, so that I could write a story for the Orangeville Banner, also stating my concern that I had no desire to keep him from his work.
He finished the spot he was painting, stepped down from the ladder saying, “Let’s get out of these fumes into some fresh air before you keel over, besides it doesn’t take much to talk me out of work these days.”
We meandered through the yard, into the house, through the kitchen, ending up in his tiny office. We pulled up two chairs and I began to ply Jim with questions in the hope of understanding the quarry situation more fully.
As far as I could discern, there was an abundance of facts and at least as many fears. One of the first questions I asked Jim was, “What makes your land so good for growing potatoes?”
He replied, “It’s two things, the rich loam soil, and the limestone beneath feeds water to my crops, like the wick of an oil lamp.”
“If they did dig the quarry,” I asked, “what will happen to the topsoil? Will they stockpile it, sell it, or what?” Jim figured they would end up mixing it with the excavated debris, and the resultant mixture would be of little agricultural value.
Among the facts, The Highland Companies owns approximately 8,300 acres of Melancthon, with options on another 500 acres. This suggests Highland has potential control of approximately 15,000 acres of prime potato growing land, in the centre of which they propose to excavate their mega open pit mine.
This would be like sinking the pit in the centre of the vegetable- growing Holland Marsh, but unfortunately beneath Melancthon is where the profitable limestone lies.
Highland has presented 3,100 pages of documents to argue its case to the Ontario government. The proposed quarry would include operations 24 hours per day, seven days per week, with blasting every day of the year except for statuary holidays. The submission contemplates 7,200 large trucks coming and going into the pit every day, 3,600 in and 3,600 out.
Since the pit would be to the depth of 232 feet, and the ground water table is approximately 24 feet below ground, the company proposes that standing water from the quarry would be re-injected into new wells in the aquifer. These ‘facts’ are horrendous in their own right, but the most frightening aspect of all is the ‘unknown.’
Every area in the world is unique in the way that nature responds to such a proposed trauma. Even the so-called experts cannot guarantee how nature will respond in each case. The highest point (1,790 feet) in Ontario lies within spitting distance of Jim Black’s farm.
The County of Dufferin published a history book entitled Into The High Country by author Adelaide Leitch. To quote two paragraphs from Adelaide’s history volume: “The true wealth of Dufferin is probably its water — water plentiful, clean and good, that has from the beginning been a special bonus given Dufferin by its geography. Some from underground tapped by wells up to 475 feet deep. Some bubbles from hillside springs.
And water gives rise to ‘old-timers’ tales like that of the ‘Bottomless Lake’ of Mono. There, they say, a sleigh and two horses once were lost during the winter, to be discovered two years later some distance away. Early surveyors, according to the old settlers, came upon an ‘Underground Lake’ in Melancthon said to be at the back of lots 288 and 287, Concession 2 of the New Survey. Here was a deep cavern with an outlet under the rocks teaming with speckled trout.”
Often fact and fiction blend, who really knows? All of Orangeville’s water is obtained from wells. If the quarry is built, with a proposed 600 million litres pumped out of Melancthon daily, could it happen, that one day turning on your tap in Orangeville will result in ‘blurp,’ a single drop trickles out for your morning cup of tea or coffee?
Highland proposes to inject its collected water back into the ground. This, I assume, would be after it has absorbed all of the contaminants such as blasting residue and diesel fuel from excavation equipment. Perhaps water temperature will also rise threatening aquatic life. Speckled trout, floating belly up may then become the norm for fish in Dufferin’s streams.
Into The High Country also reminds us “Dufferin is the mother of rivers, the Grand, Boyne, Pine, Nottawasaga, Credit”, and who knows how many tributaries of these water courses? There are many facts, most of which aren’t good, but the many unknowns continue to surface.
If Highland is allowed to proceed, and irreparable harm begins, a letter from Maude Barlow, national chairperson for the Council of Canadians warns that due to the NAFTA agreement, “if at any time after the contract has been signed, any level of government changes its mind on the project or attempts to limit damage to the land and water of the area by imposing new restrictions on the company’s operations,” the Canadian government can be sued.
When Roman Emperor Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon River he was quoted as saying, “Iacta alle est” (The dye is cast, or there is no turning back). Hopefully when the time comes for all officials to cross their Rubicon of decision making and the dye is cast, for citizens of Dufferin, it will be the correct one.
The Highland Companies has placed several full page ads in Orangeville newspapers. The two headings in the ads read ‘Myth’ and ‘Fact’. The myth column expressed many farmers’ fears, whereas the column purporting to mollify these fears was headed ‘Fact’. I believe that the word ‘Fact’ should be replaced by ‘Opinion’ or ‘Intent’. Since every situation is unique, there is no guarantee that what even experts consider to be facts will unfold as they predict.
One additional card at play is the railway land between Orangeville and Owen Sound. Highland proposes to re-establish a line so that limestone can be shipped by rail to Owen Sound, then by boat worldwide. To sell the land, 27 votes are in play with Orangeville owning 13. I must confess that I taught mathematics to Orangeville mayor Rob Adams during his formative years. Rob was a capable math student, but more importantly, any problem solving skills that he learned during those years should now be put to good use.
The quarry is not contingent on Highland obtaining the railway land, but if it did, the purchase would simplify matters and provide it with more options, but also a different set of problems to deal with.
Following my conversation with Jim Black, he made one parting remark, “All that I’ve discussed with you in the last hour is only the tip of the Highland Company iceberg of information. Many more related events have happened, are happening, and might happen, that we haven’t even had time to mention.”
As I drove south on County Road 124 following my conversation with Jim, I noted the purchasers of Melanthon property had not been resting idle. More than 30 farms along the route have had their buildings demolished. Some are homes that have been in families for generations. I passed a massive Euclid loaded with twisted stumps, earth and debris from the latest demolition project.
Afterthoughts: The more I learn about the prospective Melancthon quarry, the more uncomfortable possibilities come to mind. I once lived in Dunnville, a town on the Grand River near its mouth on Lake Erie. From an Ontario roadmap, it appears the Grand meanders for approximately 120 kilometres from its source in Dufferin down to Lake Erie.
The Grand’s actual length would really be much longer as it wanders past the wildlife in Luther Lake, the village of Grand Valley, Orangeville, Fergus, Guelph, Kitchener and Brantford.
If there is tinkering in Melancthon with water sources, will this have a ricocheting effect all the way along the waterway to Lake Erie? A final thought that surfaced most recently was brought to my attention by a friend, Bob, who had previously spent many years working with blasting.
Bob remarked, “You will likely see a dust cloud over the quarry site once they begin operations. Imagine the implications of dust clouds drifting over Dufferin, and the impact it could potentially have on our town!”
I realize some of my statements may not hold water, but I believe the biggest drop in the bucket of decision making arguments is the indisputable question, “Who really knows what will happen if the quarry is allowed to proceed?” To quote a line from T. S. Eliot’s poem The Wasteland, “I will show you fear in a handful of dust.”
Mega Quarry In Melancthon Will Be Devasting, Your Help Needed!!
