Dear Editor:
RE: Tribunal approves James Dick Construction quarry near Rockwood, Feb. 13.
On Feb. 11 rock triumphed over people and agriculture.
After seven years of work by the community and the Concerned Residents Coalition (CRC), adjudicator Scott Tousaw decided that there would be minimal risk to our community, our water, agricultural practices and the environment if monitoring and mitigation procedures could be developed by industry and approved by our government leaders.
He also said “there is no question that a quarry will result in some disruption to the area during its operation. Twenty years is not a short duration. A generation will grow up during this time when, compared to today, there will be regular blasting and more noise and trucks”.
He then assumed that our community would bear the burden of this change in lifestyle as well as our children. This decision was wrong for so many reasons. During the seven-week trial it was shown by both the CRC’s consultants and the Region of Halton’s consultants that this application by JDCL did not meet the acceptable levels of risk to our community.
Zero tolerance should be taken by our community when any business affects our water, our environment and our ability to sustain our thriving agricultural sector.
As a farmer directly impacted by this decision and a board member of the CRC, hopefully we can halt this 20 year torture until such time as the “community” and not the “LPAT” decides if we want to accept this risk.
Stephanie De Grandis,
Rockwood