The ‘Concerned Citizens of Bottrel/Water Valley' group, which was officially formed over a month ago in response to being notified of an application for an industrial aggregate extraction operation in the area, will be holding another public meeting
The ‘Concerned Citizens of Bottrel/Water Valley' group, which was officially formed over a month ago in response to being notified of an application for an industrial aggregate extraction operation in the area, will be holding another public meeting March 11.
The meeting will be held at Dartique Hall and will open with a community meeting for all concerned stakeholders (Bottrel and Water Valley area residents, business owners and recreational users) at 6:30 p.m. and followed by a ‘Q and A' session with aggregate applicant Standing Stone Gravel Ltd. from 8-9 p.m.
The Edmonton-based developer applied to Rocky View County (RVC) in December 2014 to amend Bylaw C-4841, which would re-zone the use of the land (two quarter sections; totaling 320 acres) from ‘ranch and farm district' to ‘industrial district' for the purpose of aggregate extraction.
The group has launched a legally binding petition against the application with over 100 signatures to date and maintains a plethora of issues with the application, including key environmental and health concerns.
“This meeting is about providing an update about what we have accomplished since the Jan. 27 meeting held at the hall - it will provide more opportunity for those in attendance to provide feedback and ask Standing Stone questions, ” said Andy Strasser, who operates a family-owned natural beef production with his wife, Dana, and two children in Bottrel.
Div. 9 RVC Coun. Bruce Kendall, Mountain View County Div. 2 Coun. Patricia McKean, planners from both counties, members of local media and Standing Stone Gravel Ltd. have all been invited to attend the meeting.
Robert Kelham of Standing Stone has confirmed with Strasser that he would attend the meeting next week.
One of the key concerns Strasser highlighted is what he feels is a questionable traffic impact assessment from the applicant.
Thomas Thomas - Bottrel resident and owner of Camp URSA, reiterated these concerns.
The applicant's letter to their investors states that there is $10M tons of gravel to be extracted over a 15-year period.
Kelham stated, “Our estimate of the number of loaded trucks is (plus or minus) 20 trucks per day as a maximum. ”
A loaded gravel truck with 20,000 pounds per load (capacity) at 20 loads per day would appear to result in far less than the anticipated $10M tons in that span (based on the application for six days a week from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. for half the year and for 24/7 operations up to six months of the year).
Both Strasser and Thomas maintain that basic math indicates the ‘numbers just don't add up' and are very concerned that there would be far more gravel trucks barreling up and down the rural roads than what is being indicated by the developer.
“There are a lot of discrepancies in the developer's application, ” said Thomas. “My pet peeve is the watershed. ”
Thomas explained that a year-round creek that runs through the proposed area for the gravel pit flowing partly above ground across his property and eventually into Dogpound Creek is of significant concern.
With no baseline environmental data, Thomas said the disruption of the watershed is inevitable should the county approve this application.
Environmental and health concerns highlighted by the group included: the absence of baseline environmental data; the impact this operation would have on increased noise pollution, on the Windchell/Jumping Pound/Little Red Deer River watershed (groundwater contamination; overall impact on natural springs and water supply for residents and animal life; changes to the hydrological system); the impact on the rich wildlife/birdlife/aquatic and plant life that reside in the area; the impact on human and animal health from the dust that the would result from the pit and the gravel trucks.
While residents told the Eagle at the Jan. 27 public meeting that they have observed a multitude of species on their properties, including grizzly bears, the permit application said that ‘small mammals and deer were observed on-site (and) that the province has not recorded any sensitive wildlife species within 1 km of the site, however the barred owl has been inventoried within 1.6 km of the northern registration boundary. The barred owl is listed as species of special concern.'
Judy Stewart is a Cochrane resident, lawyer and member of the Cochrane Environmental Action Committee (CEAC).
Stewart presented to RVC council members (to the committee as a whole) March 3 on ‘aggregate extraction and extraction policy development'; representatives from three gravel extraction operations were also in attendance.
Her presentation highlighted the impacts of aggregate exploration and extraction on the environment and its residents; the gist of her presentation was to propose that CEAC hosts a workshop in May/June to ‘provide an opportunity for community partnership to develop shared community values/approaches'.
CEAC is an impartial group that seeks to develop information on environmentally concerned issues and make their research available to the public.
The idea is that this information would be used to assist the development of an aggregate exploration and extraction bylaw that the county would be looking to put together, which would include a process of public consultation.
According to Coun. Kendall, until the county enacts a thorough bylaw, “this application runs a high risk of being unsuccessful as an NRI (natural resource industrial) application. ”
A similar application to redesignate 100 acres of land northeast of Cochrane Lake was struck down by RVC council in December 2012 in a 7-2 vote.
Stewart said the goal is to ensure there is ample opportunity for public engagement in the development of future policy regarding aggregate extraction in the county.
“I know what it's like to be directly affected and not have a voice…these people (Bottrel and Water Valley residents) will be directly affected by this, ” said Stewart, who also owns a parcel of land in the Bottrel area and has ‘great concerns fro the watershed and the regional landscape'.
Kendall said concerned parties should write letters of concern to RVC; the letters should be addressed to Stefan Kunz, who can be reached at [email protected] or at 403-520-3936.
To learn more or to contact the Strassers, email [email protected] or call 403-993-4841.
