ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — At the regular meeting of St. John’s city council on Monday, councillors unanimously deferred a decision about a proposed quarry that caused concern for several groups.
C.W. Parsons Ltd. is proposing to use 1.81 hectares of land for a rock and sand quarry on Pasture Land Road, off the Trans-Canada Highway (TCH) near Foxtrap Access Road. Quarry activities would involve drilling, blasting and crushing.
Council received seven submissions of concern, including from local Scouts Canada groups, the Conception Bay South Church Lads Brigade Old Comrades Branch 2 and the Kelligrews Ecological Enhancement Program (KEEP).
“To say I’m not happy about this situation is a likely understatement,” wrote a member of Scouts Canada in a redacted letter attached to city council’s agenda.
“This will be the third such operation of this type operating from the same general location. And you are looking to, or have already approved, a similar operation on the north side of the TCH in close proximity.
“I was not aware of the first approval and only found out about the second location at close of receipt of comments by those affected. Apparently that too passed. It is very likely the general Scouting community was also unaware.
“It is interesting to note that the land being occupied has already been cleared for operations so I guess any such comments to the contrary are in reality already too late. These clearings were thought to be sanctioned logging operations for environmental purposes, but alas proved to be something totally different.
“A question to be answered is how can land be cleared prior to any approval of operations by the city?”
There was also a letter from Keri-Lynn Power, a lawyer with Regular, Power, Clarke, Bennett Lawyers, on behalf of the 1st Cowan Heights Scout Group, 1st Mount Pearl Lions Scout Group and 1st Paradise Scout Group regarding their properties, 1st Cowan Heights Camp and Camp Morristown, which are located in the area of the proposed quarry.
“It would appear there have been a number of applications seeking quarries in the area as of late and based on our discussion, the parties who should have been notified have not been, which means that any approval you may have granted were done contrary to law and policy,” wrote Power.
A letter from Karen Morris with KEEP said the group is “very concerned” about the number of quarries proposed and already approved for the area.
“It is clear to see that the whole area is being stripped. Habitat is being lost and all our rivers are threatened as the headwaters for all the watersheds in C.B.S. are on the north side of the TCH,” Morris wrote.
City solicitor Cheryl Mullett said the submissions are being reviewed by the city’s legal department, and the city is awaiting information from various provincial government departments.
She said the application will come back before council when city staff have gathered more information.
Juanita Mercer reports on climate change and municipal politics in St. John’s.
