No escaping final quarry debate for CBS councillors

By Craig Westcott

They would have preferred not to, but last week CBS councillors in their final session of their term could not avoid dealing with an application featuring the dreaded Q-word.

It fell to Councillor at-Large Rex Hillier, the lead councillor on planning matters, to make the motion to approve a sand and aggregate quarry about 300 metres northeast of White Hill Pond on back of Seal Cove.

“It’s a bit ironic that I have to bring this forward this evening after everything I’ve said about quarries since I’ve been on council,” Hillier admitted. “We’ve dug our heels in for some time in this area, because of the number of applications inside our boundary and outside our boundary.”

The application was from Farrell’s Excavating Limited to take sand and stone from a 12.8 hectare area not previously mined and still covered with vegetation, close to where the company already operates a quarry.

When it received Farrell’s application this past spring, council rejected it and asked the Province to conduct a comprehensive study on the environmental impact of quarries in the area as well as the transportation implications of having the several quarries there in operation.
“We’ve been asking the Province to handle that review,” said Hillier. “We’ve had recent correspondence from the Province indicating that’s not going to happen.”
The letter, which came last month, was from Industry Minister Steve Crocker, who denied the Town’s request and insisted the Province has beefed up its regulations governing quarries.

With no objection to its application from the three government departments involved in overseeing quarries, Farrell’s resubmitted it to council in June. According to the information submitted to the Province, the quarry will include “ripping, crushing, screening, and washing material,” with the stockpiling of sand, gravel, rock and armour stone, but with no blasting or drilling at the site.

Quarries are a permitted discretionary use within the Rural land zone that encompasses the area. The Town advertised the application extensively seeking public comment. Two submissions were received outlining a long list of objections, including its proximity to a residential area, dust and air pollution, negative impact on wildlife, soil erosion, contamination of groundwater, negative effect on property values, an increase in heavy equipment going to and from the site, and a disruption to the quality of life of residents in the area.

Hillier noted the Town met with the applicant “and it was obvious the amount of work they put into this to meet provincial regulations,” he said. “So, we’re finding ourselves in this position at this point in time that we can no longer dig our heels in, but continue forward and approve this permit.”

Ward 3 councillor Gerard Tilley agreed, reiterating Hillier’s point that when council rejected the application this past spring it was expecting the Province to conduct a comprehensive study on quarries in the area.

“However, we’re probably not going to get that from the provincial government,” Tilley allowed. “However, we are satisfied with the changes that they’ve made to the rules and regulations. I think it probably forces these companies to dig a bit deeper and do some remediation before they finish the project. So, I’m satisfied based on the information we have been given from the applicant and through the provincial government.”

Councillor-at-Large Joshua Barrett said his opinion has changed a bit too.

“I’ve become aware that nearly every quarry now needs to undergo an environmental assessment by the Province, and this is new,” said Barrett. “And not only that, but there are other measures in place – provincial legislation was updated to ensure that remediation actually takes place. They have provisions in place that the company will be penalized if they don’t do that, and not only are they required to do that at the end of the life of the quarry, but ongoing. So, looking into this over the past week or so, I’m a lot more comfortable with this going ahead. I understand the province is really tightening its measures for environmental protection and conservation. I don’t believe there will be a huge increase in traffic based on what they are proposing.”

Barrett added that some companies are going all the way to Thorburn Lake outside Clarenville to get aggregate and stone for projects on the Northeast Avalon, which has an added cost for anyone building or buying a new home.

“If they’re travelling three hours one way, and with the cost for maintenance and all that stuff, undeniably the price for your home is going to go up,” Barrett argued. “Whereas if you get it closer to town, that alleviates some of the cost… So, for those reasons, I believe where it is, and given its adjacency to other quarries and the triggers that that impacts from a regional assessment perspective, I’m in favour of this, this evening.”

Mayor Darrin Bent pointed out the Province now requires a lease from companies operating quarries that is reviewable every five years.

“It has some strict guidelines with regard to mitigation, because far too often in the past we’ve seen people come in and create a quarry and leave it as (it stood) on its last day of work and not do any remediation,” Bent said. “There’s already remediation happening, actually, in this quarry area right now, which gives me some comfort. But I want to be clear; my opinion on quarries generally in the town has not changed. The location of this mitigates it to me in a lot of ways because it is not a residential area, it is a quarry area, it goes up an industrial road off the main highway, and goes into an area where this quarry operator would (otherwise) just continue operating where they are now, but they have come across an environmental situation where they have to avoid a bog and go to the other side… It doesn’t impact any residents, and it isn’t a new quarry in a residential area, which I’m steadfast against.

Bent said it will be up to future council to ensure the Province lives up to the promise of its regulations.

“And I believe that’s what future councils will do in this case,” he said. “So, I’m confident in allowing this to go ahead.”

Councillor Hillier concluded the debate by making special mention of the members of KEEP, the Kelligrews Ecological Enhancement Program, who have bene vigilant when it comes to quarries in CBS.

“They’ve been with us all the way on these issues,” said Hillier. “They’ve written papers, agreed with the stand that we’ve taken over time, and I just want to thank them for the work that they’ve done. I know they’re disappointed in this one this evening, but I just want to thank them and let them know that we have gone through this and reviewed it and this is basically the recommendation that we have to make this evening.”

The motion to approve the quarry passed unanimously, with Ward 4 councillor Melissa Hardy declaring a conflict of interest and not voting on the matter because she has a family member who works with Farrell’s Excavating.