[All] Public feedback needed re: Hidden Valley

Thu Oct 3 19:34:42 EDT 2013

Hi folks

The public open house regarding the River road Extension took place Oct. 1st. Public comments are open until October  14th.  

Comments can be shared with Wayne Cheater at the Region of Waterloo at WCheater at regionofwaterloo.ca and Donald Drackley at ddrackley at ibigroup.com

I created a flickr page featuring some of the photos taken during the open house. They are here for your reference:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/64027613@N00/sets/72157636164364475/

Below is the feedback I have provided to them along with photos in the attachments of some of the display materials. 
(The data specific to Jefferson locations was from a previous open house. )

Lulu 

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Louisette Lanteigne <butterflybluelu at rogers.com>
To: "WCheater at regonofwaterloo.ca" <WCheater at regonofwaterloo.ca>; "ddrackley at ibigroup.com" <ddrackley at ibigroup.com> 
Sent: Thursday, October 3, 2013 5:31:20 PM
Subject: Roadway threatens multiple Species At Risk. 

Hi Mr. Cheater &  Mr. Drackley

These are my comments regarding the October 1, 2013 openhouse for the River Road Extension from King Street to Maintou Drive. 

In Waterloo Region, road salts close wells, we have legacy contamination issues to deal with and 13 sewage treatment plants are dumping partially treated sewage into the Grand River.  Taxpayers are pay 100's of millions to clean this up but to make things cheaper, we need clean water going into the ground to dilute water treatment costs. 

Jefferson Salamanders are an indicator species of excellent water quality recharge areas. Adding road salts and impervious surfaces near these habitats contaminates our wells faster and increases costs for taxpayers. To date there is no proposed salt mitigation strategy for the River Road Extension according to Regional Staff I have spoken with. There are no measures to replace lost water volumes equal to the current volumes or water quality infiltrating on site currently if we pave over this roadway. This project will augment natural water tables and water quality of this area.

I appreciate greatly the work staff have done on this matter. Their community outreach has been excellent and I want to thank everyone for that, but in light of several issues it is difficult for me to support the project as it stands currently. 

Stantec conducted the hydrogeology for the River Hill Road Extension. They handle many of our local well meditations and they are also doing the Lake Erie pipeline study. If water quality or volumes are adversely impacted by this project in Hidden Valley it makes me wonder who stands to profit?  Building in such a high constraint area like this sets a dangerous precedent for other projects to encroach upon Endangered Species Habitats and the message it sends is that it's OK to bend and break the rules. We can't have that.  

As much as I do appreciate the work being done by the GRCA on this matter, the fact still stands that the Region is among their largest fiscal sponsors.  Conflicts of interest exists in the system that could further complicate issues. 

I attended the Open house for the River Road Extension on October 1, 2013 and I can confirm the following information:

-The proposed River Road Extension is well within 1km of critical habitat of the Jefferson Salamander breeding areas.
-The Region of Waterloo intends to remove trees and create a buffer zone of plant life to buffer the edge of the roadway. This land augmentation is expected occur one year before road construction in 2016.
-Final draft plan will be going through the approval process in 2014
-Construction is anticipated to begin in 2017
-No salt mitigation strategy has been crafted for this project. 
-No permits to disrupt species or habitats have been submitted through the EBR process yet. 
-When I asked if the Region intends to seek kill permits using section 16 of the Endangered Species Act, they stated they are in discussion with the MNR but refused to confirm if they will do this. Should this project be approved, they will by law require this. 

Here is a videotape I took of Regional Council staff advising council that "WE DON'T NEED PERMITS" for habitat or species destruction because it would cause delay. I took this video in Regional Council on October 4th 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdRuYRIQdJk  

Previously I spoke with Gail Jackson who is a Senior Policy Advisor with the Ontario MNR and she confirmed that there is no grandfather clause for the Endangered Species Act. If the animal is at risk of extinction, then a threat is a threat regardless of prior planning processes. The law gives the priority towards protecting that animal.  Any land augmentations requires the permit process and it can take up to 7 years to secure that.  The project must be signed off three times before such permits are issued. The intent to seek the permit must be posted on the Environmental Registry where the public has the opportunity to voice concerns. The applicant must address the issues in a manner that proves net benefit to species or the permit will not be approved. This is to comply with the Ontario Endangered Species Act, the Federal Species At Risk Act and our meet our international obligations to ratify the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. This isn't
 just a local issue. This is a federal and international priority. 

The natural studies conducted in 2012 and 2013  specifically states that the studies "were only focused on areas where alignments were feasible & likely". (Source: LGL report as seen in the attachments.) This information I have gathered in the attachment appears to indicate that the Region has implemented the use of  discretionary powers to limited the scope of the study in spite of confirmed observations for the following species in Hidden Valley:

-Jefferson Salamanders (Threatened)
-Barn Swallow (Threatened)
-Butternut Trees (Endangered) 
-Chimney Swift (Threatened)
-Bobolink (Threatened)
-Milk Snake (Special Concern)
-Snapping Turtle (Special Concern)
-Nighthawk (Special Concern)
-Bald Eagle (Special Concern)
-Canada Warbler (Special Concern)

The Endangered Butternut trees are in close proximity to the area of the proposed roadway, as illustrated in the attachments. 

Suitable Habitats exist for the following species but there is a lack of data to confirm if they are in Hidden Valley: 

-Least Bittern (Threatened)
-Rusty Patch Bumble Bee (Endangered)
-Northern Myotis aka Long eared bat (Endangered)

According to the Ontario Endangered Species Act, required habitat protection must include 300m of critical habitat zone plus an area "Up to one kilometre" around that location.  Here is the applicable section of the Endangered Species Act specific to the protection of Jefferson Salamanders.

ONTARIO REGULATION 436/09
made under the
ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT, 2007
Made: August 12, 2009
Filed: November 18, 2009
Published on e-Laws: November 20, 2009
Printed in The Ontario Gazette: December 5, 2009

Amending O. Reg. 242/08

Jefferson salamander habitat
28.  For the purpose of clause (a) of the definition of “habitat” in subsection 2 (1) of the Act, the following areas are prescribed as the habitat of the Jefferson salamander:
1. In the City of Hamilton, the counties of Brant, Dufferin, Elgin, Grey, Haldimand, Norfolk and Wellington and the regional municipalities of Halton, Niagara, Peel, Waterloo and York,
i. a wetland, pond or vernal or other temporary pool that is being used by a Jefferson salamander or Jefferson dominated polyploid or was used by a Jefferson salamander or Jefferson dominated polyploid at any time during the previous five years,
ii. an area that is within 300 metres of a wetland, pond or vernal or other temporary pool described in subparagraph i and that provides suitable foraging, dispersal, migration or hibernation conditions for Jefferson salamanders or Jefferson dominated polyploids,
iii. a wetland, pond or vernal or other temporary pool that,
A. would provide suitable breeding conditions for Jefferson salamanders or Jefferson dominated polyploids,
B. is within one kilometre of an area described in subparagraph i, and
C. is connected to the area described in subparagraph i by an area described in subparagraph iv, and
iv. an area that provides suitable conditions for Jefferson salamanders or Jefferson dominated polyploids to disperse and is within one kilometre of an area described in subparagraph i.

Source: http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/source/regs/english/2009/elaws_src_regs_r09436_e.htm

The habitat maps of the Jefferson Salamanders of Hidden Valley is included in the attachments. I took these photos at a public open house back in 2011 and it includes one confirmed specimen found in close proximity to proposed roadway network. No doubt, these animals and their habitat will be at increased risk if this roadway is built. The 300m bufferzone is represented in red but there is no delineation of the 1km habitat range as required to comply with existing law. 

It is my concern that in allowing insufficient narrowly scoped studies to be used for the approval processes, the Region of Waterloo may be held liable for violating the Species at Risk Act section 58. Ecojustice has sued the Federal Govenment's Department of Fisheries for using discretionary powers for habitat delineation before. There is case law to support this. The ruling survived an appeal process.  http://www.ecojustice.ca/media-centre/press-releases/appeal-court-decision-affirms-protection-for-killer-whales

Essentially the Supreme court has ruled that the protection of Endangered Species should not be left to the discretion of politicians. Same logic applies at the Regional Level. 

Currently Ecojustice is suing the Province of Ontario for using discretionary powers to reduce protection of the Endangered Species Act 2007. For more information on that lawsuit visit here: http://www.ecojustice.ca/blog/ontario2019s-broken-promise

In the preamble for the Ontario Endangered Species Act  2007 it states:  The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity takes note of the precautionary principle, which, as described in the Convention, states that, where there is a threat of significant reduction or loss of biological diversity, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to avoid or minimize such a threat. 

In light of that passage I would like to request that the Region secure mapping that features both the critical habitat range and the area that provides suitable conditions for Jefferson Salamanders to disperse up to 1km.  I would also request that critical habitat ranges and habitat delineation zones be established for the other federally protected species confirmed within the Hidden Valley area including Barn Swallows, Chimney Swifts,  Bobolink etc. These species all require a recovery strategy under the law as written. 

So technically I oppose the roadway. There are too many ecological constraints, to many associated costs and realistically, the longer we delay cancelling the road, the more expensive this entire venture is going to get. 

Never the less, I would like to share concepts to address the core concerns that were used to justify the creation of the roadway. 

The Region of Waterloo states the purpose of the River Hill Road Extension is "to relieve congestion & traffic dangers that exist on Fairway road."  That was back in 2004 when the Region's population was only 495,000. Provincial growth targets for Waterloo Region will increase populations to 742,000 over the next 18 years. That's over double Kitchener's current population. Traffic Congestion will happen in our Region whether this road is built or not and with it comes increased health care issues, increased traffic etc. 
$72 million could be used to purchase a fleet of 144 hybrid buses (at $500,000 per bus) or it pay for an additional 3km to add to our light rail system without degrading the natural capital infrastructure we require for water supplies, clean air and public health. With an aging population, this is a wise option to provide enhanced public transportation options. 

According to the Region's collision study, the number 1 cause of accidents in the Region of Waterloo is rear end collisions. The main time for accidents is Friday at 5pm. Traffic problems on Fairway road are not about bad roads so much as it is about driver error. Folks are going shopping, coming home from work, they are tired. Adding  chevrons, rumble strips and reducing speeds in problem areas is far cheaper to enhance driver awareness than building a $72 million dollar roadway.  Modifying human behaviour is the choice with the least amount of infrastructure and expense required so we really need to find more opportunities to adopt strategies of that nature because green spaces are not limitless. We need to put the focus on moving people, not cars.

I would like to continue to be on the mailing list. 

Thank you and all your staff for all the efforts done to facilitate the public process on this matter. It is greatly appreciated. 

Louisette Lanteigne
700 Star Flower Ave.
Waterloo Ont.
N2V 2L2 
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