On Friday April 19, Gary Aikema of Flamborough wrote a letter to the editor stating "Campbellville Quarry a necessity." This letter was republished Saturday April 20.
The letter contained factual errors that I would like to correct.
1) The letter states this always was a quarry site. In fact, the proposed site was never a quarry but a sand and gravel pit. Unlike a pit, a quarry requires blasting with explosives, which can release dust (including carcinogenic particulate matter), and may cause dangerous flyrock, in this case less than 100 metres from Hwy. 401.
2) The letter states Reid Sideroad has no homes on it. In fact it does. Homes, businesses and new subdivisions border it, and Milton’s Emergency Services building is located on Reid Sideroad, housing fire and ambulance services for the community. Reid Sideroad also is enjoyed by pedestrians and cyclists, and is used by school buses servicing the side street off Reid Sideroad.
3) The letter also states "Campbellville Quarry is a necessity." In fact, with over 6,000 licensed pits and quarries in Ontario, licensed to mine over 2 billion tonnes annually, another quarry is not needed to meet the Province’s annual requirement for aggregate of around 170 million tonnes. And I hypothesize that even if a new quarry was licensed in Campbellville, Mr. Aikema's quarry would continue to operate. There simply would be another community suffering the health and environmental consequences of this industry.
I sympathize with the frustration I sense in Mr. Aikema's letter. Similar frustrations are felt by communities hosting pits and quarries across Ontario. The aggregate industry has a number of serious problems, as outlined in the Auditor General's Dec. 2023 report.
This is why some groups, including Reform Gravel Mining Coalition are calling on a Moratorium on new quarries and expansions, until these issued can be addressed. For more information, I invite you to read the Auditor General's report, and visit the Reform Gravel Mining Coalition's website. www.reformgravelmining.ca/.
More information on the proposed Campbellville quarry can be found at www.actionmilton.ca.
Ruth Hull
Campbellville
