[All] Fw: Aggregate risks to Moraine and Fuel risks to Erie

Fri May 7 12:14:24 EDT 2010

--- On Fri, 5/7/10, Louisette Lanteigne <butterflybluelu at rogers.com> wrote:

From: Louisette Lanteigne <butterflybluelu at rogers.com>
Subject: Aggregate risks to Moraine and Fuel risks to Erie
To: mcolleen at region.waterloo.on.ca, "Jan d'Ailly" <jdailly at city.waterloo.on.ca>, "Diane Freeman" <dfreeman at city.waterloo.on.ca>, "Brenda Halloran" <bhalloran at city.waterloo.on.ca>, "Ian McLean" <imclean at city.waterloo.on.ca>, "Karen Scian" <kscian at city.waterloo.on.ca>, "Angela Vieth" <avieth at city.waterloo.on.ca>, "Mark Whaley" <mwhaley at city.waterloo.on.ca>, "Scott Witmer" <switmer at city.waterloo.on.ca>
Cc: article1 at ecojustice.ca, holt at uwaterloo.ca, commissioner at eco.on.ca, Sharon.Bailey at ontario.ca, Scarpaleggia.F at parl.gc.ca
Date: Friday, May 7, 2010, 12:10 PM

Dear City and Council Members.

The MNR just finished a State of the Aggregate Resources in Ontario Study that can be seen on line here which will govern the future of aggregate extraction in Ontario and influence the policies of the upcoming Provincial Policy Statement. It can be seen on line here: http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/Aggregates/Publication/287375.html

This report was published independent of the input from the Canadian Geological Survey of Canada and without any participation of the MOE in spite of the overwhelming importance of aggregates in terms of water supplies. Water was barely mentioned in this report at all. Here is are passages of an email I received from someone I've been in dialogue with. 

Way back in the past the Federal Government had control over the mineral resources across Canada.  To please the provinces a government (Conservative?) passed control of all mineral resources to the provinces.   This proved to be a mistake regarding things like oil and sharing of wealth. Water and fish were a resources that did not recognize provincial boundaries so the Feds hung onto jurisdictions concerning these two resources. 

I did not think about this during SAROS meetings  when I brought up (at numerous times) the hydrological functions of undisturbed aggregate and cones of influences dewatering has on the water table.  May be that is why (NAME REMOVED) and gang drop the subject as fast as they could as they did not want water involved. The feds could be involved although the MOE is certainly involved with water, but MOE is more involved towards  protecting the water from pollution.   (NAME REMOVED) said he invited the MOE to participate in SAROS but they did not respond(?). 

20 years ago the "old boys"  figured with all the rocks we have, it's a cheap place to build a big city. Nobody then considered the potential damages this could have to the municipal water supplies or the Great Lakes. Climate Change was not even on the radar. Looking at the SAROS report it is fair to state that water and aggregate issues are still not being adequately addressed in Ontario. In my view both the MNR and MOE have negated the duty to quantify the value of aggregate resources in regards to water supplies yet the MNR appear to have no problem quantifying the economic value of aggregates extracted in the Saros report. We must quantify the value of Canadian water resources.  

Without putting an actual cost value of maintaining the resources in their natural state, we're wandering in the dark as we plan. In the attachment is an quick example of how we can put a quick value on water and aggregate resources at the local level for use in planning. 

The reason I submitted a Waterloo Moraine Protection Act is to secure a scientifically  viable long term water supply to protect people and property for the long term along our watershed. The Moraine has proven the ability to provide water resources for the past 15,000 years, in an environmentally sustainable manner for relatively low running costs.  In my view it is logical to stick to what actually works.  

A pipeline to Erie will harm our environment and foster a future debt load beyond belief. We can't expect a viable water supply to last if we exploit the aggregate because they ARE the moraine system. It captures, holds and transports the water and controls the flow rates. Without the aggregates in their natural state we'll see floods, erosion, droughts and cross jurisdictional water issues that will have adverse impacts to agriculture, Great Lakes shipping and public health. The list goes on.  

The oil spill in Mexico is a good example of how quickly things can change when there is a spill. Although drilling isn't allowed on the United States side of Lake Erie, on the Canadian side it is and there are hundreds of natural gas wells and some oil wells off shore on the Ontario side. Lake Erie is not beyond the risk of serious contamination risks. You can see the wells on the map here: 

http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/OGSR/2ColumnSubPage/STEL02_167105.html 

After reviewing the map, I would like to simply ask, which water source would Regional Officials like to invest in for the long term. The area above the red or below the red? 

Please lend support to the creation of a Waterloo Moraine Protection Act and invest in protecting our local water resources for the long term. It is not too late to request this. Contact the Environmental Commissioner if you'd like to see it happen. 

Thank you kindly for your time. 

Louisette Lanteigne 
700 Star Flower Ave. 
Waterloo Ontario 
N2V 2L2
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://gren.ca/pipermail/all_gren.ca/attachments/20100507/a06065ce/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Oakridge%20Moraine%20overview[1][1].pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 1647297 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://gren.ca/pipermail/all_gren.ca/attachments/20100507/a06065ce/attachment.pdf>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Information_for_Waterloo_Moraine_24_July_2006[1].pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 117719 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://gren.ca/pipermail/all_gren.ca/attachments/20100507/a06065ce/attachment-0001.pdf>