Nelson Aggregate vs The Escarpment

I was resident of Lowville for 15 years and lived as a neighbour to Nelson Aggregate quarry. I was a rural resident who worried about the infrastructure of my water, waste water and leaching beds. I was respectful of the environment in my little piece of the country. Nelson never caused me any difficulty as a neighbour with the minor exception of windows rattling, every once in a while, from the quarry blasting.
Nelson Aggregate and Mount Nemo have had a shaky relationship over the 60 years aggregate extraction has existed on the escarpment. But now Mt. Nemo is fighting back. The existing quarry has about 5 years of aggregate available before they close up operation but Nelson wants to expand. Residents and others are saying enough is enough and want it to stop. Their license to take aggregate is ended, should be shut down and rehabilitated, which has been the plan for many years. The City of Burlington, Region of Halton, Niagara Escarpment Commission and many other agencies agree the escarpment needs a rest from this intensive industry and have voted against the expansion.


It’s rare that all agencies agree and heart warming to feel preservation of our escarpment is under one state-of-mind. However, not everything is moving in a cohesive manner. Two members of City and Regional Council voted in favour of the expansion, Carol D’Amelio and Jack Dennison. For reasons that were not clear to me, or a great number of people, will have to make their rationale for allowing the pit operation to continue and expand known to voters in the November 2010 election. But the largest hurdle to overcome will be a protracted Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) hearing that could take a year to resolve and cost the City and Region a huge amount of money if they lose. This may have been what the two councillors were thinking when they voted for the quarrying to continue. Most councillors knew what their chances were and voted for what is right, to stop the quarrying on the escarpment and give Mt. Nemo time to recover from 60 of blasting and digging.

It moves on to the OMB made up of lawyers and planners who look at the provincial picture when making decisions. The pseudo court will base the decision on technical facts which Nelsons and the City and Region will bring to the table. Ground water studies, hydogeological reports that are more art than science, ecological information about salamanders and forests but it all comes down to: is the industrial need greater than the environmental need. The decision will boil down to this.