Press Coverage

Massive step forward’: Minister calls for environmental assessment for proposed Milton quarry

Bambang Sadewo

Milton Canadian Champion

Thursday, January 28, 2021

Another provincial official has called for an environmental assessment for the proposed quarry in rural Milton.

In a news release, MPP Parm Gill announced that Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry John Yakabuski has written a letter to Environment Minister Jeff Yurek to request an Environment Assessment (EA) for the proposed Campbellville quarry.

“I am very pleased Minister Yakabuski is joining me, and our community, in calling for an Environment Assessment for the proposed Reid Road quarry. This is great news and a massive step forward,” said Gill, who made a similar request back in July of 2019.

“Although the pandemic has shifted timelines and deadlines, my commitment against this quarry application is unwavering."

The application filed by James Dick Construction Limited (JDCL) in mid-2018 to the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) — for a licence to operate a pit and quarry and an asphalt reprocessing plant at 9210 Twiss Rd. — is still under review.

The release states that members of the community had registered over 1,100 formal objections during the public consultation period, ranging from concerns regarding fly-rock, increased traffic and the potential risks associated with blasting below the water table that could negatively affect local water supply.

In a previous interview, JDCL said that the company will continue to work with the community and the ongoing joint agency review team process — an undertaking by the Town of Milton, Halton Region and Conservation Halton to review studies submitted by JDCL — to resolve all objections and concerns.

While the Aggregate Resources Act consultation period normally has to be completed within two years, the timeline was suspended in March of last year in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The suspended procedural timelines resumed in September.

According to the website of the Town of Milton, the new date provided by the MNRF to complete this review period is Jan. 29, 2021.

The latest EA request is an "encouraging development," said George Minakakis, chair of ACTION Milton, a citizen group that has been voicing opposition against the project.

“We have to keep in mind that Minister Yakabuski has just asked Minister Yurek for an Environmental Assessment as it relates to this site and application,” he said in a statement. “We have not heard that (that) has been granted, and when it is, there need to be terms of reference on what issues will be reviewed.”

He added that the group is hoping to get a more definitive understanding on the terms of reference behind the EA, as well as how it would lead to the promise made by Premier Doug Ford to stop the proposal.

“We need to see this come to closure ... sooner rather than later,” Minakakis said. “It's just the wrong place.”

Bambang Sadewo is a general assignment reporter for InsideHalton.com and its sister papers. He is also the municipal affairs reporter for Milton. He speaks English and Indonesian.

Tags: Local News, News