The Globe and Mail reports that, “In a controversial ruling, the OMB (Ontario Municipal Board) has approved a plan by a U.S. construction and paving company to establish a quarry along a rugged section of Lake Superior shoreline near Wawa.”
“The area sports …water so pristine that it can be drunk directly by dipping a cup into the lake.”
“The board’s decision has angered environmentalists, who say it opens the way for a rush to develop quarries on the last, largely unspoiled area of Great Lakes, the isolated northern shore of Lake Superior.”
“The Ontario government has identified 15 sites in the region that would be of potential interest to the aggregate industry.”
“Ric Holt, president of Gravel Watch Ontario, said the fight over the Wawa quarry has been one of the most important in Canada because of the precedent it would set. It is extremely difficult to open new quarries because of their large scale impacts.”
“Under the OMB ruling, Superior Aggregates Co., a division of Michigan-based Carlo Companies, is to be issued a licence for the quarry from the Ministry of Natural Resources, a process that usually takes 30 to 60 days.”
The article is at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/lake-superior-quarry-project-gets-green-light/article1228337/.
You can read more about Gravel Watch Ontario at http://www.gravelwatch.org/.
