Petition launched to stop quarry expansion
Neighbours against the quarry expansion.
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Updated: November 17, 2009 3:34 PM
A group of residents opposed to the expansion of a gravel mine in Pitt Meadows are now gathering signatures for a petition to send to the province.
The Sheridan Hill residents vow to ramp up protests against expansion of Pitt River Quarries, despite being told the decision will be free from political interference.
We are going to forward the petition to the minister in charge, said Brent Richards.
“We are also trying to encourage council to put pressure provincially because we got the impression that council feels helpless,” he added.
Pitt River Quarries’ gravel mine in the Pitt Polder hopes to expand its operation further into the rock face of Sheridan Hill.
The expansion will allow Lafarge Canada Inc. to continue mining at the site for another 10 to 15 years and move the mine to within 15 metres from the east property boundary – 100 metres from the nearest houses on Sheridan Hill.
As a result, excavation will be seen from the southwest side of Sheridan Hill, from Harris, McNeil and Richardson roads and all of the properties in that area of northern Pitt Meadows.
A municipality cannot regulate mining operations, which fall under the jurisdiction of the province. The province, however, evaluates each mining application individually and does allow municipalities to submit comments.
There has been a quarry at the site since the 1960s. Besides supplying gravel to nearby municipalities and developments, the quarry was a major supplier of construction aggregate to the Pitt River Bridge.
Lafarge Canada assures that a buffer of trees will be kept to block the view and that expansion will not encroach further onto the Sheridan Hill subdivision.
The company expects to hold an information meeting on the mine expansion in four to six weeks.
Lafarge Canada’s application to expand the gravel mine is still being review by the province.
• The petition against the quarry can be accessed online at stopquarryexpansion.ca.
