Overview of the Mega Quarry Proposed by The Highland Companies Location: Melancthon Township, Dufferin County, Ontario -- 90 minutes

north-west of Toronto on county road 124 on the way to Collingwood. Neighbouring communities are: Badjeros, Creemore, Honeywood, Hornings Mills, Maple Valley, Masonville, Redickville, Shelburne. Introducing: - 3191574 Nova Scotia Company Ltd aka The Highland Companies - 1712665 Ontario Ltd. aka Downey Potato Farms - 3218089 Nova Scotia Company Ltd (Highlands Rail Group?) - Wilson Farms All of the above generally referred to as The Highland Companies (www.highlandcompanies.ca) BUSINESS LINES According to their website*, The Highland Companies is the operating and investment vehicle for a group of private investors based in Canada and the United States. The company has three lines of business: - Farming - Aggregates (www.melancthonquarry.ca) - Rail - with a note that they have explored the potential of renewable energy, including wind power [read 40+ industrial wind turbines and 6,000 available acres]

*Prior to Aug-2011. After August the website was updated to show only 2 business lines: farming & aggregates.

Farming In 2006 Highland started buying farmland in Melancthon, continuing farm operations and usually hiring back the farmers. Highland, backed by the Baupost Group, a Boston hedge fund, quietly and determinedly bought up land over the subsequent years and today they own around 8,000 of the 15,000 contiguous prime class 1 agricultural acres. Some of the land is located north of Redickville. (Melancthon Land Assembly map) [There are 4 other aggregate companies with land holdings in the area waiting in the wings to see what happens.] Today, Highland is the largest landowner, taxpayer, employer and private sector donor in the Township, providing about 20% of the property tax revenue and 24% of the jobs within Melancthon. Highland is the #1 potato producer in Ontario. Aggregates In March 2011, 3191574 Nova Scotia Company applied to the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) for a Class "A" licence to remove more than 20,000 tonnes of aggregate annually from a pit or a quarry (EBR #011-2864). At the same time the company applied to the Township of Melancthon for official plan and zoning by-law amendments.

This proposed quarry: - will be the largest quarry in Canada and second largest in North America - covers 2,316 acres consisting of 4 extraction areas and 1 central processing area - will be 237 feet deep, below the water table - is expected to manage 600 million litres of water per day in perpetuity (capacity of the Collingwood water tower is 2.3 million litres) - is the headwaters for five major rivers (Grand, Beaver, Pine, Nottawasaga, Saugeen) - expects to extract one billion tonnes of amabel dolostone (limestone)1 with six billion tonnes in reserves - expects to blast explosives 6 days per week - expects to run 7,200 truck trips in/out per day (2-3 trucks per minute) - is adjacent to the Niagara Escarpment. A mega-quarry is defined as having 150 million tonnes of reserves and an annual production capacity of at least 10 million tonnes. Rail The Highland Companies has investigated purchasing the rail line/former rail line from Streetsville to Owen Sound. This rail business line is independent of Highlands other business lines. In anticipation of revived rail traffic, Highland has purchased a land corridor to connect the proposed quarry to the anticipated rail line. Owen Sound is a port for national and international shipping.

AGGREGATE IN ONTARIO In comparison, similar quarry operations are: Lafarge Manitoulin: (?) acres (largest in Canada) (ships to the US) Dufferin Milton: 1,119 acres Lafarge Dundas: 1,045 acres, 71.93 acres proposed Walker Niagara Falls: 542 acres Nelson Mount Nemo: 519 acres, 200 acres proposed St. Marys Flamborough: 164 acres proposed MAQ Duntroon: 151 acres proposed Walker Duntroon: 116 acres, 168 acres proposed Osprey: 40 acres It should be noted that according to Friends of Rural Communities and the Environment (FORCE), there are 2,800 quarries in Ontario. According to Canadas Rock to Road Magazine the Manitoulin operation is impacted by the fortunes of U.S. economy as a significant percentage of Manitoulins output is shipped to U.S. markets on the Great Lakes. There is no shortage of aggregate in Ontario. Process 1. Application to the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) for a quarry licence (regulated by Aggregate Resources Act (ARA)) In March 2011, 3191574 Nova Scotia Company applied to the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) for a Class "A" licence to remove more than 20,000 tonnes of aggregate annually from a pit or a quarry

(EBR #011-2864). Originally, there was a 45-day commenting period under the Aggregate Resources Act (ARA) that ended April 26th. However, due to mounting pressure from residents and members of government at various levels, an additional commenting period was held under the Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR) to ensure there was a full understanding of the 3,100page proposal. The EBR period closed July 11th. The comments received under the ARA are the only comments legally required to be addressed in the quarry licencing process while the EBR comments were expected to be used by the MNR only in an Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) hearing. However, Highland Companies has agreed to address all comments from both periods: 2,051 under the ARA and 3,735 for the EBR. Highland Companies, the proponent, has up to two years to address all objections. However, since the process is expected to go to the OMB anyway, chances are the company will not take two years to announce that all issues are resolved. Section 4 of the Provincial Standards issued under the ARA requires the applicant to attempt to resolve all objections. The applicant must obtain written confirmation (withdrawal) from all objectors indicating their objections have been addressed. If objections have not been resolved, the applicant shall send recommendations for resolving objections. The objector must then submit to the MNR and the applicant within 20 days

recommendations that may resolve the objections. The recommendations shall be delivered personally or by registered mail within the 20 days or it will be deemed that there is no longer an objection. Objections will be taken before the OMB. 2. Application for an official plan amendment and zoning by-law amendment On April 28, 2011 the Township of Melancthon announced that they had received a complete application by 3191574 Nova Scotia Company doing business as The Highland Companies. The Township has 120 days to respond to the zoning by-law amendment and 180 days to respond to the official plan amendment before the proponent may appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB). 3. Application for emissions discharge approval On June 29, 2011 Highland Companies applied for Approval for discharge into the natural environment other than water (i.e. Air) (EBR#011-3976). There was a 30-day public comment period, which ended July 29th. The Ministry of the Environment (MOE) is the decision-maker. 4. Application for a permit to take water (MOE) 5. Application for approval for sewage works (MOE) 6. Others? blasting permit maybe? CONCLUSION

Do not take this 2,316 acre quarry lightly. The environmental impacts of this proposed quarry are complex and far-reaching due to its scale. Opponents are estimating that the drinking water of one million people in southern Ontario could be affected. Due to obsolete logic and out-dated laws, the Aggregate Resources Act does not require an Environmental Assessment for this quarry. Broad concerns are: loss of water quality, loss of prime farmland, community impact, additional heavy traffic, loss of air quality, noise pollution, Niagara Escarpment impact, potential to export, potential to take water. Strategically opponents are (i) generating awareness, (ii) demanding a Joint Panel Review under an Environmental Assessment, and (iii) raising funds for the upcoming fight. Yes, this will be a long (i.e. 10 years) and expensive ($2 million?) fight. The principal of the Highland Companies, Mr. John Lowndes, is the brother of Mr. David Lowndes of Lowndes Holdings who initiated zoning for a quarry in Flamborough. Lowndes Holdings ultimately sold its Flamborough interest to St. Marys Cement. St. Marys continues to pursue the Flamborough quarry despite heavy opposition and is now suing the Government of Canada under NAFTA. See FORCE for further information. [Also General FAQs and glossary courtesy of FORCE.] Finally, to quote an article by Our Innisfill,

Melancthon Quarry and Lessons from Site 41, In other words, the foreign-funded commercial mining enterprise reaps the benefit of maximum extraction and profit during a finite lifespan while Ontario residents are expected to assume all the risk of unknown, possibly unforeseen, consequences without limit.

Excellent Overview Articles Sep-09 In the Hills Apr-11 Dyson Forbes May-11 Kathryn Heming Jun-11 In the Hills Aug-11 ON Nature Magazine High Stakes in the High Country (Editorial) Video - PitStop Video The Big Pit

Birth of a Protest - Melancthon Mega Quarry by

Groups/Citizens Expressing Concern News History What Can I Do to Stop the Quarry? Return to www.facebook.com/friends.of.ndact
1Why

do we need limestone mining? - Calcite and dolomite (a magnesium-rich limestone), when heated and in some cases slurried or combined with salt, are used in making many everyday products such as paper, glass, paint and varnish, soap and detergents, textiles, refractories, baking powder, and pharmaceuticals, including milk of magnesia and bicarbonate of

soda. Finely ground, they are used to control coal mine dust, to collect sulfur dioxide from power plant exhaust, to sweeten soils, and as ingredients in fertilizer and stock feeds, to name a few. Limestone is used extensively in Michigan to refine beet sugar. When burned in a kiln to drive off gases, calcite and dolomite form burnt lime. Among the uses for burnt lime, in addition to steel making, are water and sewage treatment, acid waste neutralization, and road base stabilization. Crushed calcite and dolomite are used in concrete, road construction, building materials, and as a filler in asphalt.