The Highland Companies, backed by The Baupost Group, a Boston based hedge fund, has made application to excavate a +2,300 acre limestone quarry, 100 km northwest of Toronto, in Melancthon Township.
If approved, this would be the largest quarry in Canadian history, and the second largest in North America.
The quarry, would irreversibly eradicate Class 1 agricultural land, involve excavation 1.5 times as deep as Niagara Falls and 200 feet below the water table in an area known as The Headwaters, since it the highest point of elevation in Southern Ontario and home to the headwaters and sensitive recharge area of numerous important river systems that provide water resources for approximately 1 million Ontarians.
The proponent intends to manipulate 600 million litres of water daily (equivalent to 25% of all water consumed by Ontarians on a daily basis), in perpetuity.
In short, Canada has never laid witness to the potential for a quarrying excavation and operation of this magnitude.
A large and growing number of Ontario residents and concerned environmental organizations have understandingly become very alarmed that our government could potentially authorize Highlands to proceed with what could prove, in retrospect, to be an environmental disaster.
This site is intended to be a hub that aggregates the news, events and information being discussed by all of the committed groups working to stop the open pit mine.
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