Dear Editor:
My comments relate to the article published on July 22 “the Ear to Groundwater Tour travels to Guelph/Eramosa, Puslinch.” I had the privilege of hosting the Wellington Water Watchers and Shane Philips at my farm in Rockwood. I believe that the article clearly summarizes what Mr. Philips and myself described concerning the potential effects of the proposed Hidden Quarry on an already stressed water system and the natural environment.
What does a stressed water system look like during an extreme weather event like we are having this week? My pond is much lower and the wetlands are drying up. In the article Mr. Sweetnam, VP of JDCL states that the proposed quarry will “operate with the natural environment rather than taking from the environment.” However, working with the environment in a climate crisis was not top of mind for JDCL or for the LPAT chair for that matter during the LPAT trial. No discussion of the climate crisis occurred during the eight-week trial. The only solution to changes in the natural environment due to the quarry operations were to stop extraction if the water table dropped more than 4 m at the quarry site. Oh and yes let’s monitor for the impacts to my pond (as well as other sites within the quarry).
This obvious lack of concern for what is happening right now to our natural environment reminds me of the Hans Christen Anderson fable “The Emperor has No Clothes.” Aggregate companies like JDCL would tell us as well as our government agencies that there will be no impact to our precious water systems and we should believe them even if we know there has been no consideration for the climate crisis. Similar to the vain Emperor who was told that his invisible clothes were real. Most of us who are going to be directly impacted can see the obvious “naked truth”. Yet another 50 acres of wetland and ponds will disappear in Ontario.
Stephanie De Grandis,
Rockwood