Ontario aquifer in danger from a proposed giant gravel pit.

[JohnyCanuck]

Melancthon quarry galvanizes opponents
By Meg Borthwick

I stood on the crumbling foundations of one of the original mills for which Horning's Mills (about 80km northwest of Mississauga /JC) is named 180 years later, thinking about another group interested in the area's resources. The Highland Companies, with the financial backing of the $23 billion U.S. hedge fund Baupost, has bought up close to 8,000 acres of prime Ontario farmland in this sensitive area, and proposes to blast a 2,400 acre hole into the region's aquifer.

They'll also have to pump out some 600 million litres of water that filters through the aquifer each and every day to keep that big hole from filling up with water from a complex, largely unmapped network of underground streams and rivers. Now why, you may ask, would anyone want to destroy an aquifer -- the headwaters of five major rivers -- and put at risk the drinking water of some 1 million people downstream?

In a word, aggregate -- limestone aggregate to be specific -- and there's an obscene amount of money to be made by digging 200 feet below the water table to mine it. Aggregate mining falls under Ontario's Aggregate Resource Act, which doesn't require an environmental assessment.

snip

Anti-quarry activists were cautiously optimistic when in early September, just weeks before the upcoming provincial election, the McGuinty government announced it would make Highland Companies subject to a comprehensive Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed mega quarry. The EA could take as long as three years, and will require consultation with the general public, First Nations peoples and the ministry, all of which must be documented.

http://rabble.ca/news/2011/09/melancthon-quarry-galvanizes-those-against-it

[JohnyCanuck]

1. Foodstock Oct 16, 2011: Public food event in support of the movement to Stop The Mega Quarry

Foodstock: Public food event in support of the movement to Stop The Mega Quarry on Oct 16, 2011
By rabbleTV

Join Chef Michael Stadtlander and more than 70 of the best chefs from across Canada for an outdoor, pay-what-you can, public food event in support of the movement to Stop The Mega Quarry.

All funds raised will go to fighting the Mega Quarry application that has been put forward by the Highland Companies to create a limestone quarry over 2,300 acres in size on prime, fertile agricultural land and digging into pristine aquifers.

Each chef will prepare one item, celebrating the local bounty and encouraging Ontarians to stand up and have their voice heard by the government.

Everyone is welcome. Please dress accordingly (wear BOOTS) -- this is an outdoor event in a field. We also encourage you to bring your own plates and cutlery to cut down on waste and clean-up. Organize a car pool, share a ride.

Honeywood ON, 10 minutes North of Shelburne on Hwy 124. The 4 Farms That Didn't Sell Out To The Highland Companies (1.5 hours north of Toronto)

Please share widely our goal is to have thousands of people attend.

Register yourself and your guests now: http://canadianchefscongressfoodstock.eventbrite.com/

If you'd like to volunteer on the day of the event, please click here:
http://www.volunteerforfoodstock.com/


Entertainment and Speakers

Speeches by:
Dr. Faisal Moola - David Suzuki Foundation
Michael Stadtlander - President of the Chef's Congress of Canada

Music Main Stage
Jim Cuddy, Sarah Harmer, Tom Barlow, Cuff The Duke, and Hayden

Acoustic performances throughout the site
Ed Roman, Hobo Willy and Andrew Queen, Larry Kurtz, MacCallum and Langhorst are confirmed for buskers

Video created by Dyson Forbes.
Music (kindly donated) by Sarah Harmer for the song "Escarpment Blues".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTl4lb2stsQ