Landscapes and the Proposed Mega-Quarry

Photography by Donna WellsForeword by Sarah Wells

Landscapes and the Proposed Mega-Quarry

Front cover

View east side of proposed mega-quarry

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Landscapes and the Proposed Mega-Quarry

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View east of proposed mega-quarry, looking onto Niagara Escarpment Commission lands

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Foreword

About an hour north of Toronto one encounters rolling hills, crisp morning air, rich agricultural

farmland and the headwaters of five major river systems. It is a place my family has called a home

away from home for twenty-five years. Artists are well established in the area and, more abundantly,

farmers have been living on and working the land for well over a century. The region is known as the

Dufferin County and at its north end lies the Township of Melancthon.

Melancthon Township has, by all accounts, a strong agricultural history where farmers raise livestock

and crops including hay, wheat and potatoes, and, in recent years, fruit and soybeans. Within and

around Melancthon Township, small farming communities now find themselves divided or, by at least

one account, “torn apart”. Across the same tracts of land an unprecedented alliance has formed

between urban retirees, artists, farmers, and members of First Nations communities. Igniting debate,

and reshaping both the land and politics of the area, is the application by an American-owned

company to dig a vast hole in the heart of the region: The Township of Melancthon is the site of the

largest proposed quarry in the province of Ontario and, possibly, in all of North America.

Few details surrounding the proposed quarry are not subject to debate. Yet, what is certain is that The

Highland Companies, controlled by Boston-based hedge fund the Baupost Group, has proposed the

largest quarry ever built in Ontario. Its lands are to extend five kilometres across (2316 acres total) and

its depth is anticipated at over 200 feet. A “mega-quarry” is defined as having a rock reserve of at least

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150 million tonnes; the reserve now owned by The Highland Companies in Melancthon Township is

estimated at 1 billion tonnes. The quarry’s purpose is the extraction of high-quality limestone deposits,

which lie beneath the rich agricultural land. The limestone, once crushed and graded, will form an

aggregate sought by the construction industry within our province, and beyond.

The extent of deception surrounding The Highland Companies’ acquisition of land in Melancthon

Township is less certain. By some accounts, land was acquired under the guise of a local man and his

shell company, misleading farmers and other residents as to the long-term intent of land purchases.

Whether by guise or not, in 2006 the company began buying properties in the area at the inflated price

of $8,000 an acre. The company quickly acquired well over 7,500 acres – including the area’s two

largest potato farms – and became Ontario’s biggest potato producer. The company also began

bulldozing farmhouses and drilling holes in the land, practices not consistent with mere potato farming

and raising suspicions among local residents.

The Dufferin County is also known as the ‘headwaters’ of Ontario, as it is the source of five major river

systems known as the Credit, Humber, Grand, Saugeen and Nottawasaga. Waters sourced here

support an array of aquatic life and supply drinking water to over a million people. Water is central to

the debate surrounding the mega-quarry. The Highland Companies, in order to keep the quarry dry,

will have to pump 600,000,000 litres of groundwater a day away from its site, every day, in perpetuity.

The environmental impact of blasting and excavating limestone, and dewatering, circulating and

recharging, all day, every day, 600 million litres of water, is simply unknown.

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Opponents of the quarry also question the impact in terms of noise, dust and pollution levels of the

estimated many hundreds of trucks a day that will transport the aggregate away from the quarry site.

The social and cultural fabric of the area, the esthetics of its landscapes, the health of its fish and

wildlife, the toxicity levels of the land and water, the viability of a ‘local food’ movement, all these and

other contentious issues have come into the debate surrounding the proposed mega-quarry.

The book of photography that follows does not argue a position or purport to answer the difficult

questions. The issues are admittedly complex. We are neither the first nor the last community whose

interests may be displaced by the agenda of a multi-national resource extraction company. Around the

globe, mining companies contribute simultaneously to growth and destruction: The interests of

development and modern ‘essentials’ (roads, buildings, computers and cell phones to name a few)

cannot exist without large scale resource extraction that often destroys the local environment and,

sometimes even, the life of its inhabitants.

Do we care more in this case because it is happening in our own backyard? I would suggest not.

Rather, the proposed mega-quarry opens our minds to, and enables us to care more about, the

experiences of those globally who wake up feeling displaced, fearful, powerless, or simply questioning

the seemingly insatiable demands of ‘development’.

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My mother strongly believes that it is important to learn as much as possible about an issue. Her

photography is not a zealous argument but rather contemplative and curious. The images as they

appear in this book are the culmination of many months of photographing from all angles the

landscapes that will be affected by the proposed mega-quarry. I believe, rather than dictating a

position, the photographs that follow ask of viewers to consider for themselves: Is there value inherent

in the natural beauty of a region? In its lands, waters, and inhabitants? And, if so, when we continue

to bow to the allure of development and corporate profit, what is lost?

Sarah Wells, J.D., LL.M.Investigator, activist, and a mother hopeful that the choices we make today leave the world a better place for our children tomorrow.

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Photographer’s Note

I have lived in Dufferin County for 25 years enjoying its beauty in terms of the land, the rivers, and the

kindness and generosity of the people. Upon hearing more about the proposed mega-quarry, I

decided to photograph the areas that will be affected by the quarry both within and surrounding its

location. My purpose was to create a visual description of the areas and a way of life that will be

altered irreparably. I believe that visual images can sensitize or re-sensitize us, in this case, to nature

and its potential destruction.

In this project, I employed the photographic techniques of realism and simplicity. Therefore, the

landscapes were photographed as they are. In order to avoid distractions that might draw the viewers’

attention away from such essence, I chose to keep the images as simple and uncluttered as possible.

At the same time, I stylized the images photographically using lines, shapes, angles, color and

perspective to convey the moving reaction I experienced while seeing and photographing the

landscapes.

In the photographs displayed, my hope is to create an emotional reaction among viewers and possibly

contribute to the on-going debate about how we view and negotiate the use and preservation of our

land now and over time.Donna Wellsemail: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.donnawellsphotography.ca

http://www.donnawellsphotography.ca

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The Land

The following photographs offer views of the land within or immediately adjacent to the proposed mega-quarry.

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View of centre of proposed mega-quarry

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View of west side of proposed mega-quarry

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View of potato field north of proposed mega-quarry

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View of east side of proposed mega-quarry

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View from Highway 124 at centre of proposed mega-quarry

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View from Highway 124 at centre of proposed mega-quarry

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View east of proposed mega-quarry, looking onto Niagara Escarpment Commission Land

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The Water

The following photographs offer views of several rivers found within the five major river systems sourced in the Dufferin County, which is also known as the ‘headwaters’ of Ontario. The five major river systems are the Credit, Humber, Grand, Saugeen, and Nottawasaga.

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Source waters of the Pine River, within the proposed mega-quarry

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Pine River, east of the proposed mega-quarry, beside the Bruce Trail

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Pine River Park, east of the proposed mega-quarry, beside the Bruce Trail

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Noisy River, north of the proposed mega-quarry, near the Noisy River Provincial Nature Reserve

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Noisy River, north of the proposed mega-quarry, near the Noisy River Provincial Nature Reserve

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Grand River near Corbetton, west of the proposed mega-quarry

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Grand River near Corbetton, west of the proposed mega-quarry

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Mad River, Osprey Wetlands Conservation Area near Maple Valley, north of the proposed mega-quarry

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Mad River, Osprey Wetlands Conservation Area near Maple Valley, north of the proposed mega-quarry

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Pretty River, Pretty River Valley Provincial Park beside the Bruce Trail, north of the proposed mega-quarry

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Pretty River, Pretty River Valley Provincial Park beside the Bruce Trail, north of the proposed mega-quarry

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Beaver River, Feversham Gorge Conservation Area, northwest of the proposed mega-quarry

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Credit River, near Alton, south of the proposed mega-quarry

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Nottawasaga River, south of the proposed mega-quarry

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Saugeen River, between Dundalk and Flesherton, west of the proposed mega-quarry

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Humber River, south of the proposed mega-quarry

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Boyne River, Boyne Valley Provincial Park, south of the proposed mega-quarry

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Perspectives

The following photographs offer views of the changing uses of the land within or immediately adjacent to the proposed mega-quarry.

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Farm and tractor

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Cows in pasture land

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Farm storage facility

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Farm equipment and protest sign

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Storage shed and potatoes

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The Highland Companies facility, north edge of the proposed mega-quarry

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Worksite with well-head on centre of proposed mega-quarry

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Site of demolished homestead and well head

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Site of demolished homestead

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Two protest signs

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Sign showing Notice of Application Under the Aggregate Resources Act by The Highland Companies, P.O. Box 377, Shelburne, ON -since dismantled

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Protest signs, Hornings Mills

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Protest sign, highway 124

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Protest sign, highway 124

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Highway 124, people on route to Foodstock, an event geared to stop the mega-quarry, October 16, 2011

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Potato field, people on route to Foodstock, October 16, 2011

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About Donna Wells

Donna Wells took up photography in the last decade. During this time, she has been instructed and deeply inspired by photographers: Freeman Patterson (Shamper’s Bluff, NB), André Gallant (St. John, NB), Edward Knapp (Toronto, ON & Hull, Quebec), and John McQuade (Toronto: Miksang Contemplative Photography).

Photography is a medium that allows Donna to fulfill her love of the outdoors alongside her active lifestyle. In her photography, the purposes are to capture the unbending spirit within all aspects of life, and to stir the emotions in us regarding our intimate relationship (good or bad) to the everyday world. She uses a high-end digital camera, and the photographic approaches of realism, creation of movement in still images, and simplicity. Currently, she is studying mixed media art with oils as a technique to further enhance the feeling and dimensionality communicated in her photos.

Grateful acknowledgements

I am grateful for the love and support that my family provided this past summer while I undertook this project “Landscapes and the Proposed Mega-Quarry”: Brent Clode for his technical and editing support, Greg Wells for his editing support, and Robert Wells for being my ‘photographer’s assistant’ and for his kind and thorough critique. A special thanks to Sarah Wells, who most generously and thoughtfully agreed to write the Foreword, and for her editing support. A final thanks to Declan Clode, and Judith and Ingrid Wells who are always there.

Additionally, I thank all the people of Dufferin County who I encountered during the time I was photographing and who kindly stopped and shared their thoughts about the proposed mega-quarry.

Pine River

Documents

Landscapes and the Proposed Mega-Quarry