The Ontario Land Tribunal has approved an expansion of the Nelson Aggregate quarry in Burlington's Mount Nemo area, a decision the City of Burlington says it strongly opposes.
Crushed stone supplier Nelson Aggregate plans to expand the quarry west and south, adding dozens more acres to the site on the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve. The company says the expansion is necessary to supply aggregate stone for use in Hamilton and the western Greater Toronto Area.
According to the tribunal's decision, the company's plan satisfies environmental and operational concerns.
Burlington City Council says it opposes the plan over fears about the potential environmental impacts to groundwater, wildlife and the people who live nearby.
"Shocking, devastating"
"This is shocking, devastating for the community. This is not necessary," Mayor Marianne Meed Ward tells CHCH News.
"We at the city and the residents provided thousands of pages of evidence, of potential risks to the environment, to health, to air quality, water quality and we just don't know how this happened," Meed Ward said.
The mayor's reaction reflects years of organized opposition to the project. A vocal group of neighbours has fought the expansion for years, joined by several environmental groups.
The city has previously issued a letter opposing the quarry expansion, and the case has been a long-running point of contention in the community because of the site's location within the Niagara Escarpment Biosphere Reserve.
The decision means quarry operations can grow to meet regional demand for aggregate, which the company argues is needed for construction projects in Hamilton and the western GTA.
For residents near Mount Nemo, the approval settles the tribunal question but leaves the concerns they raised — about water quality, air quality, wildlife and health — unresolved.
