An article in the Toronto Star this week points the finger at the Ontario provincial government for appearing to favor the quarrying and destruction of a remarkable piece of Lake Superior shoreline near Wawa. But Michigan is a big player in this tragedy. The operator of the site, Superior Aggregates, is a subsididary of a Michigan company, and will use some of the rock for Michigan projects. This is a chance for Michigan officials to put pressure on the company to back off and look elsewhere for their materials. The idea that our responsibility for the Great Lakes ends at arbitrary national and state borders should have died long ago. It's one big ecosystem.
Environmental groups slam province's move on quarry
Say it's a way to avoid assessment
Minister says land will be protected
KATE HARRIES
ONTARIO REPORTER
The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources has quietly extended legislation to cover a controversial quarry proposed for a scenic stretch of the Lake Superior shoreline near Wawa.
The ministry hopes that designating Michipicoten Township and the surrounding area under the Aggregate Resources Act will head off a possible environmental assessment of the Superior Aggregates project, spokesperson Stuart Thatcher said yesterday.
Superior Aggregates plans to drill, blast and crush rock on their property for shipment to markets in the United States and Canada.
While the project by a subsidiary of Michigan-based Carlo Companies has the support of the local township and most area residents, it has attracted massive opposition from environmentalists around and beyond the Great Lakes.
In a telephone interview from Peterborough, Thatcher said the designation of the township under the aggregates act would probably negate the need for an environmental assessment.
He added that the aggregates law is equivalent to environmental legislation, providing for public participation, ongoing enforcement and eventual rehabilitation.
While most of southern Ontario and all crown land is designated under the aggregates act, in the north it applies in only a few areas, leaving regulation of quarries and pits on private property to local municipalities.
"This is positive change that will ensure environmental protection for the area's significant natural values and beauty," Natural Resources Minister Dave Ramsay says in an Aug. 3 release that's posted on the ministry's website but was not widely circulated.
Opponents of the plan say the move is a way of avoiding broader public interest issues.
"They're not at all equivalent, so it's not an answer," Richard Lindgren of the Canadian Environmental Law Association said of the aggregates and the environmental legislation.
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Posted by Dave at August 11, 2004 10:57 PM