2ND DAY OF THE HUNDER PIT OMB HEARING

As there was a site visit in the morning I showed up for the after lunch start time of 2 pm.. I can't say that I feel any more confident after two days than I did after the first. The good news is that I saw both the Township's lawyer (Ms. Costello) and the lawyer for the CWRA (Mr. Paton) in action. They both cross-examined a hydrogeologist for Hunder by the name of Mr. Hems/Hims ??? Ms. Costello asked a number of good questions in regards to the high water mark of the water table and also in regards to the deeper aquitard. She obtained agreement from Hunder's hydrogeologist that a below the water table gravel pit would require major further groundwater studies. I'm a wee bit skeptical about that one. Mr. Paton representing the Conestoga Winterbourne Residents Association asked some very good questions dealing with the storage and possible protection from fuel leaks of all the heavy equipment that will be on site. Mr. Paton also again brought up the issue? that to date there is no designated operator for this proposed gravel pit. For example it will be Preston Sand and Gravel operating the Jigs Hollow/Kuntz Pit just upriver. The Chair Ms. Schiller had raised this question on Tuesday. This would force the raising of the pit floor to keep it 1.5 metres above the water table.

Mr. Paton really hit his stride in pressing Mr. Hems/Hims?? on the "historical" high water table levels. Eventually he did get the expert admission that if climatic conditions changed dramatically then a much higher water table is in the realm of possibility.

The final witness of the afternoon was a Mr. Gastmeyer who is an acoustical engineer. He discussed the change from a Class Two acoustical environment (semi-urban) to a Class Three (rural). There is a five decibel lower noise criteria for Class Three and that was eventually agreed to by all. This did involve peer reviewers on behalf of both the Township and of the CWRA. Other interesting agreements are that the accumulated sound levels from both the Jigs Hollow Pit and the proposed Hunder Pit are on the table. Also there was a proposal that there will be no simultaneous processing from both pits. This I find a tad problematic when both pits are under the gun. Which pit stops processing first?

The hearing reconvenes this morning at 10 am. What I find offputting is almost the atmosphere/attitude well we've come this far there's no turning back but we will consider minor condition changes to appease the folks we're going to bugger royally.