Nelson Aggregates submitted an application in 2019 for two new licenses to expand their extraction areas to the south and west of the current 520 acre open-pit quarry lands of Burlington’s Mount Nemo plateau. The total size of the new mines would be 124 acres, 18% larger than the 2012 Joint Board denied extraction footprint (105 acres).

Nelson applied for an expansion in 2004 and was eventually denied by Ontario's Consolidated Hearings Board (Joint Board) in 2012. In its decision, the Joint Board stated that “The habitat of the Jefferson Salamander, as an endangered species, may be described fairly as both a unique and a sensitive ecological area that requires protection”. The Joint Board ultimately concluded that "Nelson had not made sufficient provision for the protection of these unique ecologic and environmentally sensitive areas"

Nelson made revisions to the 2004 application footprint, which they believe warrant another attempt at approval of their expansion application. There are no restrictions in the Planning Act, the Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act or the Aggregate Resources Act that prevents a proponent from reapplying for an application that was previously denied. In order to stop gravel extraction on Burlington’s Niagara Escarpment, there would need to be new land-use protection provisions put in place.

Both the Region of Halton and the City of Burlington have formally opposed Nelson’s application (for the second time) citing “too many potentially negative impacts to the area, environment, wildlife, and community in the proposed expansion of the aggregate operation”. The Region and the City will both participate as official parties, opposing the application at the Ontario Land Tribunal hearing. The Niagara Escarpment Commission is also registered as an official Party opposed to the Nelson Aggregates expansion application.

The Joint Agency Review Team (JART) is a multi-agency team, with representatives from City of Burlington, Region of Halton, Niagara Escarpment Commission and Conservation Halton who, with the support of outside experts, jointly completed the technical review of the Nelson application documents. In June ‘23, the report with their findings was issued to the public. There were over 600 unresolved issues identified across 13 technical dimensions, including impacts to air quality, private wells, natural heritage, traffic and site rehabilitation, etc.

The existing quarry and proposed expansion are located in the district of Mount Nemo in Burlington, on the Niagara Escarpment which is a part of the Ontario Greenbelt. If approved, the expansion will destroy prime agricultural Land, provincially significant wetlands, woodlands, and threaten local air and water quality. The quarry expansion would threaten the safety of the people and animals, including endangered species like Jefferson Salamanders that call Mount Nemo and their greenbelt home.

The Ontario Land Tribunal (OLT) adjudicates matters related to land use planning & development, environmental and natural features and heritage protection. Nelson Aggregates prematurely abandoned the formal application review process and appealed the application approval decision to the OLT. The OLT hearing is anticipated to begin in 2025 where the City, Region, NEC and CORE Burlington / PERL will call expert witnesses to demonstrate that the quarry expansion will create unreasonable and unnecessary risks to the residents and natural environment of Burlington and surrounding areas. Nelson will call their own witnesses to defend their application. The Tribunal will weigh the evidence and decide to Approve or Deny the Nelson Aggregates application.

If the application is approved, current truck traffic is expected to increase significantly to an annual average of 600-700 trucks/day, traveling the rural roads of Burlington, to and from the quarry - during peak construction season, April to October, the daily truck traffic is expected to be noticeably higher than the annual average. Operation of the expanded quarry anticipates a further 240 heavy rock trucks/day crossing #2 Sideroad, necessitating frequent daily traffic closure of #2 Sideroad, thus disrupting vehicle flows. Furthermore, the Nelson application proposes a rehabilitation plan, which will have millions of tonnes of waste construction fill imported into the quarry to form a raised floor. This is estimated to add an additional 200,000 truck trips to the operation of the quarry.

Navigating a fully loaded gravel truck (40,000 kg+) through the hilly and windy rural roads of Burlington, presents a real threat to the pedestrians, cyclists and cars with whom they share this mostly 2 lane rural road. The ability to stop suddenly or take evasive action to avoid other users is very limited with trucks of this size and the consequences can be fatal.

Local residents talk of speeding trucks, broken windshields from rock falling off gravel trucks and non-roadworthy trucks taken off the road by police for serious safety infractions. And then there is the dust!

The Safety Data Sheet publish by The Safety Data Sheet published by Nelson Aggregates on their website indicates the limestone rock mined at their site contains Crystalline Silica (also known as quartz). On the same Safety Data sheet, they state under “Toxicological Information: Chronic exposure to respirable quartz at levels exceeding exposure limits has caused silicosis, a serious and progressive lung disease which can be disabling and lead to death”

In addition to Crystalline Silica exposure risk, air quality experts agree that dust emissions from a limestone mining operation can also contain ultra-fine particles known as PM2.5, which studies have linked to increased mortality from lung cancer and heart disease.

As you can see from this video, the dust created by Nelson Aggregates’ Burlington quarry often blankets the adjacent community which is a contravention of the Environmental Protection Act and an unnecessary risk to the community.

Hydrologists have concluded that Nelson's modelling / simulations of the risk to groundwater supply and contamination is inadequate, and accepting their predictions would put our groundwater at risk.

A peer review by internationally recognized hydrogeologists and groundwater modelling experts, concludes that the modelling conducted by Nelson is "not sufficient" for the type of complex and highly fractured geology of the project sites. They state in their report, "Accepting predictions made by [this model] would pose a major risk to the groundwater" in Burlington."

The risks include the contamination of private wells through nitrates from explosive residues, spills of fuels, or other potential contaminants leaching from the massive quantities of inadequately tested imported waste construction fill disposed of in the quarry.

Nelson's proposed south and west expansion introduces new "drains" into the bedrock, changing the flow directions around private wells. This could cause contaminants to be redirected to wells, or water supply redirected away from residential wells.

YES! The most significant risk associated with blasting is a phenomenon known as “Flyrock”, where pieces of rock are ejected from a blast in an unpredictable and erratic manner. There are numerous documented flyrock incidents from around the world, some travelling over 1 kilometre and many resulting in personal injury, or worse. Flyrock is generally caused by anomalies in the rock (cracks, voids, mud seams, etc) and/or human error, both of which are very unpredictable.

Nelson’s proposed expansion encroaches on a residential rural community with approximately 100 homes, many of which are less than 150 metres from the proposed new sites. Nelson has adopted a recognized flyrock prediction model but they’ve chosen to ignore the model’s safety factors which account for the unknowns and unpredictable nature of blasting. When used properly, the model predicts ~75 homes and numerous vehicles are in the danger zone and at risk of being hit by flyrock

Nelson reports they have never had a flyrock incident, however 4 neighbours of the Burlington quarry would beg to differ and have experienced flyrock on their property - fortunately none involved personal injury. Although flyrock incidents are low frequency, they can have catastrophic consequences. We can’t wait for a catastrophic event before we take action - industry standard models confirm that Nelson can not provide assurance to the local community that they will not be impacted by flyrock . . .

Open-pit mines are destructive by their very nature. Everything within the mine gets removed down to great depths, including resident species, their habitats, wetlands, woodlands, watercourses, farmland, etc. The adjacent groundwaters seep into the quarry pit, which need to be pumped out to the surface, thus affecting area watercourses, and the dozens of streams dependent on these headwaters. Nelson Aggregates’ application lists a few of the species that will need to find another home, or be destroyed, including endangered species of fauna and flora.

The existing quarry and proposed expansion are located in the district of Mount Nemo in Burlington, on the Niagara Escarpment which is a part of the Ontario Greenbelt. If approved, the expansion will destroy prime agricultural Land, provincially significant wetlands and woodlands and threaten local air and water quality. The quarry expansion would threaten the safety of the people and animals, including endangered species like Jefferson Salamanders that call Mount Nemo and their greenbelt home.

In 2022, CORE Burlington reported a significant dust cloud discharge, a violation of the Environmental Protection Act, created during a routine Nelson blast, to the MNRF. The follow-up from the MNRF was not consistent with their internal policies and resulted in no material improvement in the offsite dust clouds created from their blasts. Offsite dust clouds persist.

In its December 2023 report, the Auditor General exposes an alarming truth;

The MNRF does not have effective systems and processes in place to ensure compliance with the Aggregate Resources Act and aggregate-related regulations, policies and approvals, or to oversee aggregate development and operations in a manner that minimizes adverse impacts on the environment and communities

The limited number of experienced inspectors who play a frontline compliance role, and the infrequency with which aggregate operations are inspected, raises significant concerns that non-permissible activities will remain unchecked, perhaps for years on end.

The Auditor General found;

The MNRF’s lack of aggregate inspectors means operations are rarely visited - only 35% of sites reviewed had been inspected within the previous 5 years

The aggregate sector has high rates of non-compliance - 2017/2018 data showed the non-compliance rate for aggregate pits and quarries of 62%, compared that to Forestry at 9% and Petroleum at 33%

Despite high rates of non-compliance, MNRF rarely pursues charges - between 2018 and 2022, inspectors referred less that 1% of the over 3,400 violations to the Ministry’s Enforcement Branch

Self-Reporting requirements are not being enforced - audit results found 25% of operators examined failed to submit required reports more than 7 months after the due date with NO Ministry actions take to enforce mandatory suspensions

MNRF has no processes to ensure sites are rehabilitated after extraction is complete - despite requirements in the Provincial Policy Statement for sites to be rehabilitated 1,524 sites were found to have been dormant for 10 years and 257 for over 25 years, without final rehabilitation.

MNRF needs better information on the supply of aggregate and should disseminate it to the public - although a provincial supply of aggregates study has been commissioned, it does not verify the accuracy of the data used.

The full the Auditor General’s Value-for-Money Audit of the Management of Aggregate Resources can be found at;

https://www.auditor.on.ca/en/content/annualreports/arreports/en23/AR_mgmtaggregates_en23.pdf

The days of localized impacts are over. Whatever we do as a society has broad implications, even globally. Climate change is real. Climate change is and will dramatically affect all.

We must address the very significant impacts of aggregate mining and processing. This industry generates approximately 8% of total greenhouse gases, which are increasing global warming.

We are not advocating for a stop to gravel mining, processing and use; however, we are advocating for a pause on new gravel mine approvals, during which gravel mining practices can be modernized. Other major industries are reducing their impacts on the environment. The aggregates industry must do their part by upgrading their facilities, changing their practices, developing new processes, increasing recycling of concrete and asphalt, using other materials and technologies, and making smarter use of virgin aggregates.

Governments must change their procurement policies and practices, and construction codes.

Finally, the consumers of gravel need to recognize and accept that change costs money. This needs to be counterbalanced with the enormous ecological costs of near-city gravel mining, and the permanent alteration of the landscapes.

There are a number of ways that individuals can help to preserve the ecological integrity of rural Burlington and to advocate for healthier communities by protecting our land, air and water;

Learn more about the Niagara Escarpment, Mount Nemo and the risks created by aggregate mining, by visiting coreburlington.com

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Write to your MP/MPP/City Councillor to tell them you object to the Nelson Aggregates’ quarry expansion

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