AGGREGATE INDUSTRY LETTER TO THE EDITOR

The May 30/14 Elmira Independent carried a Letter to the Editor from Tony Dowling both a member of Gravel Watch Ontario and also of the Bridgekeepers in West Montrose. The title was "Ontario must stop preferential treatment of aggregate industry". Tony lists various exemptions they receive including exemptions from environmental assessments and Class 111 zoning. They are also allowed reduced setbacks from residential housing as well as the ability to do recycling of industrial waste (concrete/asphalt) on rural extraction sites. According to Tony the following relevant documents need to be reviewed and modernized namely the Aggregate Resources Act and the Provincial Policy Statement. I will say that during the O.M.B. hearing about the Hunder Pit near Conestogo; indeed these two documents were repeatedly referenced by the proponents of the pit as being strongly supportive of new gravel extraction in the province.