A submission on Bill 132,…

A submission on Bill 132, Better for People, Smarter for Business Act, 2019, made to the Standing Committee on General Government

Sue Munro, Chair, CAMQ, November 22, 2019
Danielle Emon, Executive Member
Citizens Against Melrose Quarry (CAMQ)
camq2013@gmail.com

Thank you for providing this opportunity to speak before the Standing Committee on General Government regarding Bill 132. I will be addressing schedule 16, which includes the bill’s proposed amendments to the Aggregate Resources Act.

My name is Sue Munro and I am Chair of Citizens Against Melrose Quarry (CAMQ). We are a community, not-for-profit organization in Tyendinaga Township, Hastings County. Our riding is represented by Mr. Daryl Kramp. I do not come to you as a lawyer or as a professional bearing credentials to review aggregate operations. I am an RN. CAMQ members come from all walks of life.

CAMQ was formed in the Spring, 2013 by citizens who felt that their long- standing concerns about the proposed Melrose Quarry were not being heard. Opposition to the proposed quarry began in 2004 when residents first objected to the plan to add a second quarry adjacent to the existing Long’s Quarry. In December 2010, the proponent submitted an ARA application for a Class A, Category 2 license for underwater extraction. In early 2011, residents responded with formal opposition to the MNR. Nine years later, this application is finally under review at LPAT. Residents’ fears have not been addressed. For your reference, the LPAT case number is MM180027.

Our group promotes responsible, equitable and sustainable resource use. Tyendinaga Township is primarily zoned agricultural and rural residential. Our community, like many others in Ontario, relies entirely on groundwater to meet domestic, commercial and agricultural needs. There is no municipal water supply. This is a rural community that appears to fall outside the scope of the protections established through the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Safe Drinking Water Act (McClenaghan and Lindgren). The aquifer in the area around the proposed quarry is classed as highly vulnerable. To date there has been no study to review the cumulative impact of all groundwater users in the vicinity of the current Long’s Quarry. Since 2004, there have been multiple new home builds. There is also a recreation centre and a public school in the vicinity that rely on well water. The nearest municipal water supply is located in Belleville, ON, approximately 20 km away.

On March 2, 2017 Danielle Emon and I made a submission on Bill 39, Aggregate Resources and Mining Modernization Act, to the Standing Committee on Justice Policy. Our presentation is still available in the committee transcripts should you chose to review it (Ontario. Standing Committee on Justice Policy, 2017). Our requests were simple and we were thrilled when the committee was able to act on one of our recommendations: that the ARA section 12 (1) (e) be amended to specify that the Minister or LPAT shall have regard to “any possible effects on ground and surface water resources including on drinking water sources” when considering whether an aggregate license should be issued or refused. This is essential for the safety and protection of rural water users.

According to Back to Basics, Clean Water, a 2018 report by the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, 18% of Ontario’s total population rely on private wells, with their water being excluded from source protection plans (Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, 2018). We are painfully aware that much of the responsibility for well maintenance falls to well owners. Government initiated actions encourage stewardship and respond to inactions that may result in broader risks beyond an individual’s property (Kreutzwiser, 2010). However, when ARA licensed aggregate extraction below the water table poses increased risk to individual well owners, stewardship must lie beyond the control of individual property owners and rest in the hands of government and the proponent. Contingency planning is not precautionary.

We believe that some of the other points we addressed in 2017 are still relevant today:

• We need to improve openness and transparency with our ministries;
• There is a need for better cross-communication between ministries;
• All legislation supporting sustainable use of water should be structured to protect rural water
supplies as well as municipal water supplies;
• That MNRF consider other ministries’ requirements and non-compliance records when evaluating aggregate licenses for approval;
• When assessing cumulative impacts on groundwater, consider large volume water taking AND residential water needs, coupled with research on climate change. This point echoes past recommendations and proposals that came from the Auditor General’s 2004 recommendation to the MOE and is equally relevant to this ministry today when protecting rural water supplies.
• When considering an ARA application, please ask:
1. Is this an aquifer that can continue to tolerate a broad range of uses with limited opportunities for recharge?
2. How does pumping billions of litres of water affect highly vulnerable, weak recharge environments such as the one near Blessington Creek, Tyendinaga Township?
• We ask that ARA licenses be time limited;
• That funding be made available to citizens for expert advice and peer review particularly if the MNRF is referring to OMB (now LPAT) for decision making so ALL voices can be heard

In early November, CAMQ made the following submission to ERO NOTICE #019-0556, on proposed changes to the Aggregate Resources Act.

1. The new Aggregate Resource Act proposes to “Strengthen protection of rural water resources by creating a more robust application process.” We recommend that Aggregate Licenses be time limited and tied to the Permit to Take Water. This would afford improved communication between ministries responsible for quarrying and environmental protection and would create and opportunity to monitor and protect rural water supplies. It is essential that the ARA application process [ARA, section 13] consider the impacts of aggregate extraction both within and below the water table on communities that have no municipal drinking water supply.

2. “Streamlining compliance reporting requirements, while maintaining the annual
requirement”: it is our position that annual compliance reporting [ARA, section 15] must also be tied to a combined aggregate/Permit To Take Water (PTTW) renewal to allow for continued communication between ministries.

I will give you an example of why CAMQ believes that ARA licenses should be tied to corresponding permits to take water. In 2005, the Long’s Quarry was denied a PTTW by the then MOE. Regardless, the operator continued to operate and pump water for 6 years before the MNR found out – this highlights a lack of communication between the two ministries at the time. This happened around the time that the ARA application for the adjacent Melrose Quarry was submitted. Once discovered, the MOE ordered that the non-compliance be investigated. Unfortunately, the proponent had not kept records, meaning there was no proof that more than 50,000 litres of water/day had been pumped from the aquifer. There was no penalty. To bring the operator into compliance, the MOE issued a two-year permit to pump more than 1 million litres of water/day, followed by a 1- year PTTW. The permit to take water became the subject of an Environmental Review Tribunal (2015), launched by CAMQ with the support of the Canadian Environmental Law Association. Community fund raising and private donations paid for additional professional support such as a hydrogeologist and a planner. This was an expensive undertaking for a small group of rural residents.

As a result of the 2015 ERT recommendations, the subsequent Permit to Take Water was amended to provide language for pumping in low water conditions. In the first year, the proponent violated the terms of the PTTW and the MOE discussed this with him. After a second violation, an investigation was launched. This is an example of just one of the non-compliances with this operator. Our group questions whether our situation is unique or if this is happening all over Ontario? Regardless, this is an unacceptable environmental and health risk for a community that relies entirely on wells for drinking water and agricultural use. We believe better cross-communication between ministries is essential for compliance and licensing. Having a time limited ARA license tied to the permit to take water (PTTW) is straight forward, would cut red tape and would afford ordinary citizens the protection they require. We trust that our government and ministries are anxious to fill the gap in rural source water protection as requested by the Auditor General Report, of 2014 and 2016 (Office of the Auditor General of Ontario).

Finally, climate change provides yet another reason to tie the PTTW and the ARA licensing process together. A new aggregate license could allow for continued extraction upwards to 100 years! Is it reasonable to predict the future health of a vulnerable aquifer for generations to come based on 2019 conditions alone – or should we provide an opportunity to monitor and protect? Our experiences lead us to believe that an ARA license is unlikely to be revoked when non-compliances occur or a PTTW cannot be issued. We have proof that it doesn’t happen!

There are other agencies who can address Bill 132 in a more eloquent way. However, on behalf of this rural community in Eastern Ontario, we ask each of you to consider two requests.
1. We respectfully request that ARA licenses be time limited and tied to the Permit to Take Water; and

2. That annual compliance reporting must also be tied to a combined aggregate/Permit To Take Water (PTTW) renewal process to allow for continued communication between the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks.

Again, thank you for allowing me to address you today on behalf of Citizens Against Melrose Quarry.

Reference List

Environmental Commissioner of Ontario, 2018. Back to Basics, Clean Water. https://docs.assets.eco.on.ca/reports/environmental-protection/2018/Bac…

Kreutzwiser, R., R.C. de Loë, and K. Imgrund. Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Private Water Well Stewardship in Ontario. Report on the Findings of the Ontario Household Water Well Owner Survey 2008, Waterloo, ON, Water Policy and Governance Group, University of Waterloo, pp. 185, 2010. https://uwaterloo.ca/water-policy-and-governance-group/publications/out…

Lindgren, Richard D., Joseph F. Castrilli, and Tony Fleming. Citizens Against Melrose Quarry v. Ontario (Environment and Climate Change). Tran. Ontario. Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. Ed. Environmental Review Tribunal. 14-092 ed., 2015. Print. Proceeding Commenced Under Section 41 of the Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993, S.O. 1993, c.28, as Amended.

McClenaghan, Theresa A., and Richard D. Lindgren. Letter to the Honourable Glen Murray, Minister of the Environment & Climate Change., 12 January 2017. http://www.cela.ca/enhance-drinking-water-protection. Web. January 20, 2017.

Ontario. Office of the Auditor General of Ontario. “Ministry of the Environment Groundwater Program.” 2006 Annual Report of the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario
http://www.auditor.on.ca/en/content/annualreports/arreports/en06/405en0… pp. 283-5

Ontario. Office of the Auditor General of Ontario. “Ministry of the Environment 3.05—Groundwater Program.” 2004 Annual Report of the Provincial Office of the Auditor of Ontario http://www.auditor.on.ca/en/content/annualreports/arreports/en04/305en0…

Office of the Auditor General of Ontario. 2014 Annual Report. Toronto: Queen's Printer for Ontario, 2014. Web. February 27, 2017. http://www.auditor.on.ca/en/content/annualreports/arbyyear/ar2014.html
Office of the Auditor General of Ontario. 2016 Annual Report. Toronto: Queen's Printer for Ontario, 2016. Web. February 27, 2017. http://www.auditor.on.ca/en/content/annualreports/arbyyear/ar2016.html

Ontario. Standing Committee on Justice Policy, 2017. Committee Transcript 2017-Mar-02 https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/committees/justice-policy/p…