Milton residents taking ACTION against reopening of quarry in Campbellville
Published January 31, 2024 at 12:18 pm
With Conservative Parm Gill stepping down as Milton MPP, a group committed to keeping a quarry out of rural Milton wants to ensure potential replacements are on their side.
George Minakakis is the chair of ACTION (Association of Citizens Together In Our Nassagaweya), a group opposed to the reopening of a quarry in Campbellville, near Guelph Line and Hwy. 401.
He says the reopening of the Reid Road Reservoir Quarry would be terrible for the community, with explosions affecting quality of life of local residents by potentially impacting ground water and airborne dust and contaminants.
“This location has been closed for more than 20 years and, when it was open, it was a gravel pit,” said Minakakis to inhalton.com. “Basically they just scraped gravel and soil from the site, but now they want to turn it into a full-fledged mining operation.”
Since it closed, Minakakis said several subdivisions have popped up, within a kilometre or two of the site. And many of them rely on wells for their water needs.
Minakakis says the company that wants to start up the operation, James Dick Construction Limited (JDCL), says ground-water won’t be affected by their proposed operations. He disagrees.
“They don’t know exactly how things are going to be affected, but if it changes water flow, homeowners will be responsible for digging new wells,” a process he said can cost up to $50,000.
In addition, Minakakis said it’s inconceivable to him that the province would allow blasting so close to Hwy. 401.
“The quarry is about 500 metres south of parts of Hwy. 401. Can you imagine driving along that stretch and feeling the ground rumbling as explosions go off?”
Minakakis said both Gill and Premier Doug Ford said they are against the quarry, but he’s frustrated that no one from the province has stepped in and shut it down.
He said Ford, in 2020, agreed that no one locally wants the project to go forward and that he’d make sure it didn’t happen, one way or another.
And now Minakakis wants potential replacements for Gill to understand the issue and make sure they’re on side with his organization.
“I think many politicians forget they’re supposed to be working for the voters. And the voters in this riding don’t want this project.”
The proposal is currently undergoing an environmental assessment and there’s no specific timeframe until shovels are in the ground.
