‘It’s like David and Goliath’: Doug Ford’s new highways will fuel demand for gravel from GTA quarries. Local residents are fighting the spread of the mines – by Noor Javed (Toronto Star – March 22, 2022)

https://www.thestar.com/

Every day for the past 35 years, Sue Godfrey has tried to forget that she lives a stone’s throw from an open-pit mine. But on most days, she’s reminded by the thundering of hundreds of trucks that go in and out of the 218-hectare Burlington Nelson Quarry atop the Mount Nemo plateau, taking out limestone and bringing in fill.

Occasionally, it’s from the blasts that put cracks in the walls and cause her pictures to fall when the machines go deeper into the ground to extract stone a few hundred metres from her home — followed by the constant worry that the mine may one day affect her drinking water.

And now, just as the life of the nearly 70-year-old quarry is coming to an end, the company has applied for a 78-hectare expansion on the environmentally rich land just north of Burlington deemed a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve to keep the operation running for decades longer.

“When does it stop?” said Godfrey. “There are species of animals and plants that are endangered here. It’s not just about the quarry, it’s about protecting this biosphere for generations to come.”

For the rest of this article: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2022/02/25/its-like-david-and-goliath-doug-fords-new-highways-will-fuel-demand-for-gravel-from-gta-quarries-local-residents-are-fighting-the-spread-of-the-mines.html