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NEWS: Ontario pays $15 million to settle NAFTA challenge, protect groundwater from quarry

The Hamilton Spectator reports, “A controversial Carlisle quarry is no more. The Ontario government and St. Mary’s Cement have reached an agreement that will ensure a huge quarry near Carlisle will not be built and protect local wetlands and water supply. The agreement was announced late Friday (March 8) afternoon by the province. …A conservation easement will be placed on title to ensure that no quarry will be built on these lands and that the province maintains its conservation purposes for the future. …As a result of the new agreement, St. Mary’s and the province have agreed to withdraw all current or future litigation. The province has also agreed to pay St. Mary’s Cement $15 million toward the costs the company has incurred on the project.”

In April 2010, the then-minister of municipal affairs Jim Bradley stopped the mine from proceeding due to the potential harm the quarry would have caused to the area’s groundwater.

In August 2011, the Toronto Star reported, “A Brazilian corporation is alleging its bid to build a massive quarry (for aggregate to make concrete) outside Hamilton was scuttled by the (provincial) government for political reasons. In a $275 million lawsuit against the federal government — filed under the North American Free Trade Agreement — St. Marys Cement (SMC) charges the province intervened last year to help Liberals living nearby (in Flamborough).” St. Mary’s Cement was able to launch this NAFTA challenge because it is “owned and controlled” by St. Mary’s VCNA, a Delaware-based company.

For more, please read:
NEWS: St. Mary’s Cement launches $275 million NAFTA challenge due to cancelled quarry
NEWS: Cement company launches NAFTA challenge against McGuinty government during election
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