PUSLINCH – As an appeal court ruled an Aberfoyle gravel pit can expand, the same aggregate operator looks for further expansion.
The Ontario Land Tribunal ruled CBM Aggregates, a division of St. Marys Cement Inc. which operates over 60 gravel pits and quarries in Ontario, can expand the Lanci Pit by 14.8 hectares, or about 36.5 acres, with 10 hectares of that being the extraction area.
The original pit, located on Concession 2 just west of Aberfoyle, had a licensed area over 60 acres.
This expanded site directly south of the Lanci Pit has approximately up to four million tonnes of sand and gravel resources, said a CBM Aggregates website.
This is not a processing site but a “feeder pit” which would have extracted resources processed at the Aberfoyle South Pit on the other side of the road.
“There will be no increase in the annual tonnage shipped from this site,” the website stated. “Existing haul routes will continue to be used and there will be no truck traffic on Sideroad 25. The hours of operation will be the same as the existing pit (7 a.m. to 7 p.m.)”
The company has applied to expand the Aberfoyle South Pit although the proposed location is separated from both sites and is a little further down the road on Concession 2.
This proposed site is approximately 27.5 hectares or just under 68 acres of extraction area about 20 to 25 metres below the ground.
A CBM website said extraction will take place both above and below the water table and this too will be a feeder pit to the main Aberfoyle South Pit. CBM estimates the proposed pit has approximately 5.5 million tonnes of sand and gravel resources and would be extracted over a period of six to 10 years.
Trucks are proposed to be prohibited to travel west on Concession 2 or use Sideroad 20.
The pit will be accessed via a new entrance at the east end of the site.
“No extraction or disturbance is proposed in any portion of the adjacent Mill Creek Provincially Significant Wetland (PSW) and extraction will be setback a minimum of 30 metres from this feature,” the project summary said.
“Potential impacts of the proposed pit on the PSW, Mill Creek and other significant natural features have been thoroughly examined through the technical studies undertaken with the application.”
CBM is hosting a virtual public information session on May 8 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. about this proposed expansion.
Those interested can register in advance here.
