Development a Concern to Dufferin Quarry
A gravel pit, sitting about 30 meters from a 4.82-acre site where a new hotel and conference center is being proposed, has forced the developer to tweak its plans, according to simcoe.com.
Dufferin Aggregates, a division of CRH Canada, operates a sand and gravel pit and asphalt plant on 70 hectares of land located at the end of Beamish Road off Highway 12 in Midland, Ontario. The company has some concerns around the potential issues that could come from a hotel and conference center being built so close to its operation. They have been in discussions with Coland Development Corp., the developers behind the planned hotel and conference center, to ensure proper mitigation measures are put in place.
Both sides approached council Sept. 4 to ask that the zoning bylaw amendment approvals be pushed off until Oct. 2 to allow for these mitigation measures to be finalized. Had council approved it right away, CRH Canada would have appealed the decision with the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT).
Asparagus Farm May Become Aggregates Operation
Officials in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada, approved a motion amending the Official Plan and Zoning by-laws for a 35-acre piece of property where the owners are hoping to create a sand and gravel pit, according to Quinte News. Six deputations were heard at the meeting regarding the proposed approval along with five residents in attendance in the audience who spoke.
Mayor Steve Ferguson spoke prior to the final vote and stated this has been a long and drawn out affair for both parties as this issue has been ongoing for two years. He said no matter what council decides, someone will be mad but that staff had worked hard to address council’s and residents’ concerns.
The property is currently used to grow asparagus but if the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry approves their Aggregate Resources Act application, the property will be turned into a sand and gravel pit that could produce up to 20,000 tonnes per year, the minimum licensed amount.
Vulcan Operation in Texas Seeks Air Quality Permit
Administrative law judges from the Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings recommended that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) grant an air quality permit to Vulcan Materials Co. for the construction of a limestone crusher and quarry in Bulverde, Texas.
A group of residents under the banner Stop 3009 Vulcan Quarry challenged the issuance of the permit in administrative court and said that they would continue to mount an opposition to the quarry by asking that the TCEQ disregard the judges’ opinion, according to the San Antonio Business Journal.
Vulcan plans to mine limestone from the Edwards Formation to be crushed and stored on a 1,500-acre site south of Texas Highway 46. The crushed limestone can then be used in the construction of roads, bridges and buildings.
Residents challenging the permit are concerned with pollutants coming from the crushing facility and quarry and claim that air quality tests and core sampling done by Vulcan were improper or insufficient. Vulcan plans to protect the air and water around the site through a 600-plus acre buffer zone and by recycling water, among other precautionary measures.
Maine Quarry Seeks to Restart Operations
If Freshwater Stone is allowed to resume operations at the granite quarry it leases from Harold MacQuinn Inc. in the village of Hall Quarry, Maine, it will be much quieter than in the past, representatives of the two companies assured the Planning Board at a public hearing Aug. 29.
Several residents of the neighborhood expressed skepticism and want Freshwater to conduct tests to determine the amount of noise generated by each piece of equipment used at the quarry. But what they ultimately want is for the Planning Board to deny the companies’ application for a quarrying license, according to the Mount Desert Islander.
Freshwater worked the quarry from 2010 until 2016, when the town’s code enforcement officer issued a stop work order. In 2014, Freshwater and MacQuinn applied for a license to extract stone under the quarrying ordinance that the town’s voters had adopted the previous year.
Frank McGuire, an attorney representing the license applicants, said at the public hearing that the quarrying ordinance does not require that noise be kept under a certain level. He said it only requires that “the best practical means of reducing noise shall be employed, and the applicant is prepared to do that.”