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Dear Editor;
I recently received a copy of the Dec.21/05 bylaw agreement between the Township of A/H and Ruthben Holdings /Shelter Valley Aggregates which states;
"and Whereas the Corporations desire to develop the Subject Lands as an above water gravel pit and require a rezoning of the Subject Lands;".
The phrase "above water gravel pit" is a scientific oxymoron.
There is no such thing as an "above water gravel pit". All gravel and sand deposits hold water bonded to each particle, and constitute perhaps the most significant contribution to the pressure gradient of a given aquifer.
Surely by now, we are all familiar with the function of the 'sponge' of gravel making up the region of the Oak Ridges Moraine and its South Slope, (according to the Geological Survey of Canada, the SVA lands are on the ORM South Slope.)
That 'sponge' of gravel in fact contains and balances the sensitive hydrogeology of the area. To remove a substantial portion of it, a hill in fact, will affect the pressure - not only of the gravel itself - upon the water contained in the aquifer, but will remove the water bonded to the gravel, and shift the aquifer gradients.
The owner of Ruthben Holdings has been fined in court for deposition of hazardous materials on the land, and there is a further provincial Class A Hazardous Waste site immediately beside the SVA lands. Removal of large amounts of gravel and aggregate-bonded water is going to shift the pressure gradient and distribution of water leachate from the onsite hazardous waste.
There has been no approved clean-up of the hazardous waste sites, despite earlier official orders for such.
If Council cannot ensure compliance with this most basic and critical of tasks, how can it go ahead and further risk public safety ?
Further, the Ontario Clean Water Act 2005, released prior to the Township/ SVA Dec. 21 Agreement, states that Municipalities have an obligation to engage in Source Protection Planning, employ the Precautionary Principle, protect the ecosystem and water rights of residents, using the best scientific evidence available.
For the Township to enter into an Agreement which includes such non-scientific statements such as "above water gravel pit", is not only contrary to its obligations under the Clean Water Act, but is inaccurate, misleading, and represents a violation of residents' riparian rights.
The Agreement which the Township of Alnwick/ Haldimand entered into with Ruthben Holdings and Shelter Valley Aggregates on Dec. 21/05 was scientifically, legally, and ethically wrong.
Leigh Thomson
BSc, BEd., MDiv.
ratepayer in A/H and Cramahe.
