The Toronto Star reported on February 14 that since last May, “An old gravel pit (in the Township of Scugog) on the Oak Ridges Moraine (in south-central Ontario) has become a repository for commercial fill – soil dug out from development sites across Greater Toronto. …Testing has shown evidence of heavy metals and petroleum hydrocarbons that in at least one sample exceeded permitted levels. …Residents have formed a group called Lakeridge Citizens for Clean Water and are prodding politicians to intervene (against Earthworx, the company operating the site), noting that the 25-hectare property on Lakeridge Rd. sits atop a natural aquifer from which most residents draw their water. …(The area) sits on the watershed for three lakes… (and) just down the hill from the (commercial fill) site is the Chalk Lake natural spring, where thousands of people collect drinking water.”
Scugog is located just north of Uxbridge on the Oak Ridges Moraine
This week, the Toronto Star reports that, “A Superior Court judge has granted Scugog a temporary injunction stopping (Earthworx) from dumping commercial fill at a site in the township. Growing concerns among residents about possible contamination from dumping at an old gravel pit on the Oak Ridges Moraine, prompted the Township of Scugog to yank (the Port Perry company’s) dumping permit last October. Earthworx, has been ignoring the town’s decision because the company is building an aerodrome and believes that project falls under federal jurisdiction, not municipal. Both sides are set to meet again in Divisional Court April 4 because the company has sought a judicial review of the town’s bylaw.”
To read more, please go to http://canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=6383 and http://www.thestar.com/news/transportation/article/953970–ruling-temporarily-halts-dumping-at-scugog-gravel-pit.
