Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/103664
by Tina Grady Barbaccia, News and Digital Editor tgbarbaccia@randallreilly.com Agg For daily news updates and web-exclusive news items, visit the "AggBeat Online" section of our website at www.aggman.com Ontario Study DEBUNKS WATER WORRIES In a win for the aggregates industry, a study has found that aggregate extraction operations have no adverse effect on the water quality conditions in municipal drinking water supplies. According to the Ontario Stone, Sand and Gravel Association (OSSGA), the report, Ontario Case Studies — Water Supply and Aggregate Extraction, makes this "abundantly clear." The data from all municipal water supplies near the case study sites indicate no adverse impact from nearby aggregate operations. These data back up the results obtained from another study on water filtration — The Effect of Aggregate Extraction of Groundwater Quality, which also found that aggregate operations are unlikely to pose any significant threats to groundwater, according to OSSGA. The report further determined that, after extraction, wetlands and lakes on rehabilitated sites will also have no adverse effects on groundwater quality. Ontario, Canada-based OSSGA commissioned the third-party study as a follow-up to a Ministry of Natural Resources review, which identified varying impacts on hydrogeologic and hydrologic systems in areas where aggregate activities were taking place, as well as recommending case studies of aggregate sites where extraction and processing occurred in the vicinity of drinking water supplies. The study focused on determining "significant drinking water quality threats" that could be posed by aggregate extraction operations and associated activities as determined by the Ontario Ministry of Environment's (MOE) Source Water Protection regulations in accordance with the Clean Water Act of 2006. To determine the possible effects of aggregate operations on public water quality and quantity, the major objectives for the study were to identify and select aggregate site locations in Ontario where aggregate operations are, or have been, operat- 4 AGGREGATES MANAGER January 2013 ing in close proximity to municipal water supplies; to review available evidence related to whether water supplies have been depleted or contaminated by aggregate activities; and to develop case studies summarizing water quality and quantity impacts as the result of activities associated with aggregate extraction operations. "Our industry follows a myriad of rules and regulations to make sure our operations have no negative effects on municipal water supply systems," explains Greg Dennis, director of communications for OSSGA. "But to make doubly sure, we commissioned this study…to give everyone their deserved peace of mind." The study determined that less than 1 percent of aggregate operations in Ontario lie within the two-year time of travel Wellhead Protection Area (WHPA) for a municipal water well. This is significant, Dennis says, because aggregate producers need to prove that they are able to run their operations without negatively affecting nearby water supplies. "For the industry, the significant finding of these studies will support license applications and help counter community concerns about compatibility issues," Dennis tells Aggregates Manager. It may also help the "Not in My Backyard (NIMBY)" phenomenon that citizens often have with aggregate producers. Dennis says people, of course, "have the right to good, clean drinking water." As operators with families themselves, he explains, producers and staff understand this, expect the same privilege, and take environmental issues seriously, while carefully conducting business as outlined in provincial laws and regulations. That being noted, Dennis says OSSGA is "pleased that these studies and their scientific findings give municipalities and residents reassurance about the presence of pits operations near their water supplies." Dennis says it's easy to understand why citizens would be "quite concerned" about water supplies, whether they are for drinking water, groundwater, lakes, or wetlands. Understanding