Puslinch receives two more aggregate pit applications

ABERFOYLE – Puslinch council took advantage of a delegation by CBM Aggregates on Jan. 21 to raise concerns about the company not complying with site alteration and rehabilitation plans at its many pits in the township.

CBM, a supplier of stone, sand and gravel with 16 aggregate sites in Ontario – five of them in Puslinch – is seeking amendments to the township’s zoning bylaw and Wellington County’s official plan for two new pit applications.

The first, called the Safarik pit, is located at 4272 Concession 7, a 27.6-hectare site bisected by a hydro corridor.

The second, the Aberfoyle South Lake pit, is located at 6947 Concession 2. 

Both applications seek below-the-water-table extraction to a maximum annual limit of one million tonnes, and each will send material to the McNally pit on Concession 2 for processing.

Neal DeRuyter, a planner for MHBC, presented the proposal along with Andreanne Simard, who was representing CBM.

DeRuyter said the pits would become operational about two years following approval and would likely operate for about 10 years.

He spoke of the rehabilitation plans for both sites.

The Safarik pit would wind up with two lakes, still divided by the hydro corridor, as well as wetlands, woodlands and a pollinator habitat.

Aberfoyle South would wind up with one lake, tree planting and wetlands once rehabilitation is complete.

The applicants were not seeking approval of the pits on Jan. 21 – but merely for council to deem the applications complete.

That would kick-start a formal review by the county and township peer reviewers as well as public consultation and a public information meeting.

Council had many questions.

“Is there an express need for this pit?” councillor Sara Bailey asked.

“Residents wonder (if) we need this much (aggregate). Why is Puslinch getting cut up again?”

“Technically, we don’t have to demonstrate the need for aggregate,” DeRuyter replied, although the province is pushing for residential growth including homes, roads and institutions, all of which require aggregate to build.

Councillor Russel Hurst noted the proposed Safarik pit is close to land recently designated as rural employment land.

“How do these both fit?” he asked, referring to two ponds (upon completion of rehabilitation) being adjacent to employment lands. 

“Maybe they ought not to be ponds.”

DeRuyter said only a portion of the property is affected by the employment lands designation, “but CBM doesn’t want to do something that will affect employment lands. They would be willing to talk,” he said.

Mayor James Seeley was very concerned about the collection of silt at the McNally pit, which is also processing material from other nearby aggregate pits.

“What’s the capacity at McNally?” he asked. “Is the intent to fill the entire property with silt?”

Silt impacts the flow of water to nearby wells and is worrisome for nearby farmers, the mayor noted.

“For me it is concerning,” Seeley said. “It’s about compliance, compliance, compliance. I would like to identify how much capacity there is at McNally and where the silt is going.”

Seeley noted the township has very little authority over aggregate pits once the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) approves an application. And subsequent expansion applications don’t have to go through the township at all.

The only tool the township has is development agreements, which can include hours of operation, haul routes, road clean-up obligations and just general promises about how the site will be rehabilitated.

“So, for us, the more we can get into (development agreements) the better,” Seeley added. “We’re not seeing compliance, and we regularly see applicants make amendments through the MNR.”

Seeley said these behind-the-scenes changes do not inspire confidence that CBM will honour any new agreements regarding the two proposed pits.

“There is no trust there,” he said. “That’s why we want a development plan. It’s not that we’re anti gravel; we’re anti change from what we’re told.”

“We’re here to listen; to work together with the township,” Simard said.

With those warnings, council deemed the two applications complete.