TOWN CONSIDERS EXPANSION OF QUARRY FURTHER EAST

The Town of Halton Hills could help prolong the area's quarrying services and meet the community's construction demand by allowing a 60-hectare expansion of the Milton Quarry further east into town.

So says town project land use planner Brian Zeman.

"The site contains some of the highest quality aggregates in southern Ontario," said Zeman. "It currently produces over five million tonnes of aggregate per year, representing approximately eight percent of the total aggregate the GTA consumes annually."

While the existing quarry is predominantly located within the Town of Milton, the proposed expansion would extend across the border into Halton Hills. For this, the town's official plan would require re-designing the proposed land from "Escarpment Rural Area" to "Mineral Resource Extraction Area."

Owned by Dufferin Aggregates,

the approximately 800hectare facility commenced operations in 1962, with its most recent expansion acquiring a portion within Halton Hills' boundary in 2007.

Dufferin suggests quarrying activities within the existing facility are expected to be complete in two years and a potential expansion would allow further excavation for approximately three to seven years. Nearly half of the licensed land for the expansion would be used for quarrying and the rest for a water resource management system and rehabilitation (reforestation).

With limited extracting material and restrictions around all land use designations surrounding the quarry, Dufferin said this would be the last viable area that could be considered to expand the Milton Quarry.

Dufferin said the quarry's long-term vision is to form one of the most extensive contiguous conservation water management and recreational resources in the GTA. The excavation must be followed by land rehabilitation to a wetland, lake and forest.

Some residents expressed concerns regarding noise, vibration, blasting, air quality and impacts on their homes on 15 Side Road from the existing and expanded quarry operations.

Zeman said the proposal review criteria cover these aspects along with natural heritage protection, ground and surface water protection, transportation impacts, rehabilitation requirements and monitoring, among others.

Doris Treleaven, president of Protect Our Water and Environment Resources (POWER), said members of the organization would not endorse the application due to the potential flooding in the area resulting from the expansion.

Addressing the concern, Zeman said, "as part of the main quarry operation, a reservoir is built on site and that is where the water will ultimately be stored."

Zeman said a natural hazards assessment and flooding analysis completed as part of the application concludes that the proposed

expansion would not result in flooding.

The expansion is proposed to continue using infrastructure and haul routes established for the existing quarry. The haul route is located off Dublin Line, along with the use of Milton roadways to access Highway 401.

The proposed quarry expansion also requires an amendment to the Region of Halton Official Plan, for which the region will host a public meeting in

March.

Town staff is working on reviewing the application, including public input, and will present a final recommendations report to the council in the upcoming weeks.

Anyone who may disagree with the council's decision and has shared verbal or written submissions to the town before a decision is made can appeal the decision to the Ontario Land Tribunal.