The threats to the world’s…

The threats to the world’s purest groundwater are multiplying.
In Tiny Township, near Wasaga Beach, lies an aquifer containing the purest groundwater ever tested. It is even more pure than ancient arctic ice. This groundwater is so pure because it has been perfectly filtered by the unique combination of sands, gravels, soils and plants of the Waverly Uplands, the recharge area for the aquifer.
But this priceless treasure is under threat because the same sand and gravel that keeps the water so pure is worth a few dollars per tonne in profits to the aggregate industry.
The Sarjeant Company has applied for a permit that will allow them to extract billions of litres of groundwater from this aquifer over the next decade, for use in two new gravel pits in the Waverly Uplands. They want to use the world’s purest groundwater to wash and separate the very sand and gravel layers that made the water so pure to begin with.
These new gravel pits are a stone’s throw from the Teedon Pit. Sarjeant sold this pit to the multinational CRH corporation and the Ford government has recently granted CRH permission to expand it but the community is fighting back.
The Waverly Uplands are within the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe people of Beausoleil First Nation. This means Sargeant Company and the provincial government are both required by law to fully consult them about this project ... but have not done so.
The aggregate industry has long had a free reign in Ontario; the regulations governing quarries and gravel pits are badly skewed in favour of the industry. Communities have little influence in the approvals process.
Several studies have suggested that enough aggregate supply is available currently to fuel economic growth for at least 50 years. Rather than continue to prioritize the extraction of new sources of aggregate, it would be in the province’s best interest to create incentives to maximize reuse and reprocessing of aggregate materials under safe and appropriate industrial conditions.
We need to continue to protect our natural water resources. Water is a human right. We should protect what is ours.