[All] Fw: Your help needed to stop proposed mega-quarry in Ontario

[Louisette Lanteigne]

Council of Canadians have quick online petitions to sigh to help the folks stop 
the mega quarry.

Lulu :0)



----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Council of Canadians <council-of-canadians at topica.email-publisher.com>
To: butterflybluelu at rogers.com
Sent: Tue, April 19, 2011 4:56:33 PM
Subject: Your help needed to stop proposed mega-quarry in Ontario


  

Dear Council of Canadians members in Ontario, 
An enormous open pit mine has been proposed in  Melancthon township on Highway 
124 just north of Shelburne. The Highland  Companies (owned by a Boston hedge 
fund) has filed an application for a  2,300-acre aggregate mine- it would be the 
largest quarry in Ontario and the  second largest in North America.  This is the 
“rooftop of Ontario” and the  Niagara Escarpment runs along its border.  The 
Council of Canadians has  been working with local groups to help stop this open 
pit mine from being  created because of the extraordinary impacts it will have 
on the community, the  watersheds, Ontario’s food supply and on the drinking 
water of more than one  million people which originates in this area.
FOOD and WATER vs. PROFIT 
The Highlands company started buying farmland in  Melancthon several years ago 
saying they wanted to become the province’s  largest potato growing operation- 
which made sense to local farmers as the area  is well known for its 
particularly high quality soil and micro-climate.   About one quarter of all the 
potatoes eaten in the GTA come from there.   After many local farmers had sold 
their farms –some of which had been in  the family for generations- the real 
motives of the company became  apparent.  Under that rich and rare soil is a 
fortune in high quality  limestone worth upwards of eight billion dollars. The 
company now owns around  8000 acres of land and has applied for permission to 
mine 2400 acres which  would make it the second largest quarry in North America. 
There is little doubt  that they intend to excavate the entire 8000+ acres. To 
do so, Highland will  strip off all that precious soil then blast their way down 
more than 200  feet BELOW the water table. 

From the area around the proposed mine site spring the  headwaters of river 
systems that are important drinking water sources for more  than one million 
people downstream.  The Nottawasaga River, the Grand  River and  the Pine River 
systems will all be threatened by the mine’s 600  million litre per day 
dewatering pumps.  Massive amounts of toxic  demolition explosives will be used 
to smash the limestone and hundreds of dump  trucks per hour will enter and 
leave the site- 24 hours a day, all year round.   The company claims that this 
is all allowable under Ontario’s aggregate  extraction laws but  those laws 
couldn’t be more favourable to the  industry or more rigged against communities 
that want to protect their water. 

PLEASE GET INVOLVED  
	* Demand an extension to the ridiculously short 45 day  period allowed for 
objecting to the quarry. Click on this link here to send an email to Premier 
McGuinty asking for a 120 day extension to allow all parties to study the 3000+  
 page Highlands Company application. 

	* Support our allies: We have been working with the  North Dufferin 
Agricultural & Community Taskforce (NDACT) and the Citizen’s  Alliance for a 
Sustainable Environment (CAUSE)  and we ask you to consider  supporting them as 
well.  Please visit their websites:  www.ndact.com and www.citizensalliance.ca.
	* Write a letter of objection:                        Go to the NDACT website 
for instructions  on how to write your letter of objection: www.ndact.com.
Letters must be received by both the  MNR and Highlands by April 26, 2011. 
 Easterweekend is on April 22- 25  so  please put your letter in the mail today 
or you can drop your letters off at the Township of Melancthon office (8:30  – 
4:30) 157101 Highway # 10, Melancthon, ON in sealed envelopes addressed to  BOTH 
Highlands and  the Ministry  of Natural Resources. NDACT will arrange for pickup  
and delivery on or before April 26. 

	* Join the Facebook group: STOP THE QUARRY 
 www.facebook.com/home.php#!/group.php?gid=98096578979.
	* Participate in the Walk to Stop the Quarry- starting  at Queens Park in 
Toronto on Friday April 22nd at noon and each day  until  it arrives on April 
26th in Melancthon   township.  Come for any part of any section or come and 
walk the whole  way!  For more details: 
 www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=217379224946300.
If you have any questions about writing a letter or  joining the Walk to Stop 
the Quarry, please contact Mark Calzavara at mark at canadians.org or 
1-800-208-7156. 

Once again,  please click here to ask Premier McGuinty to extend the comment  
period until Aug 26th.
Your attention and support will make a difference in  this campaign.      


 
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