I am concerned that a…

I am concerned that a prominent developer will be allowed to create a fill operation at 0 Shaws Creek Rd (known to residents as Swan Lake). This property is a vital piece of Caledon’s heritage in that it is a prime example of an aggregate company upholding its commitment to their community. To allow the pursuit of the destruction of this land after such exemplary restorative work is something many believe to be unethical and an affront to the residents of their communities and the ones neighboring them.

This land was a below-water-table gravel pit operating until 2021 when the last extraction occurred after which LaFarge worked to rehabilitate the property to the standards set out in the aggregate license issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources. They did an exemplary job and Swan Lake is now teeming with life, including native trees and shrubs, at risk turtle species as well as dozens of bird species including the once-endangered Trumpeter Swans.

This is not an abandoned 'hole in the ground' nor is it an ‘old aggregate pit’ as those in favour have stated. In fact, it is quite the opposite. It is a prime example of what an aggregate company can and should do upon the completion of an extraction operation.

The fill operation that this proposal could permit would add hundreds of dump trucks to Hwy 10 and Charleston Sideroad each week, fill a groundwater connected lake with potentially contaminated construction fill, destroy an aquatic naturalized space and saddle the surrounding rural residents with unending noise and significant threats to their well water upon which local farm operations and families rely. There is NO BENEFIT in this deal to the residents of Dufferin-Caledon and surrounding communities.

Water quality and quantity must be ensured, road safety ensured and agricultural business operations protected. Should this precedent setting action be permitted to proceed it will leave all bodies of water in Ontario that are vulnerably connected to groundwater open to becoming a dumping ground for contaminated construction spoil.