To my friends who are fighting against the Mega Quarry

To my friends who are fighting against the Mega Quarry

With what has happened concerning my small stand against what happened to my wife and myself I only wish to say.

From the moment that my dear late wife and I began to complain about the gravel pit, where are home was located we were met with total unwillingness to help. I still remember the propaganda offered in their own brochures put out by the MNR. We asked the MNR in a polite and civil way if we could find some ground where both parties could find a solution to our complaint. That was met with unwillingness to do anything. In wanting to sell the right away that separated two pits we stated our objection and views. We asked the township for an environmental assessment which we were denied. We spoke directly to the gravel pit owner who assured us he would mitigate the dust, he did nothing. After my wife died I called Kingston MOE twice, I never received a return call. I sent a letter to Premier McGuinty I received a reply that stated"Mr. Cressey, my colleagues and I continue to echo our belief that our province’s high quality of life and sustainable economic growth are contingent upon strong environmental protection. That is why it is a priority of this government. We understand that all Ontarians deserve to live and work in clean, safe communities – communities in which the environment contributes to our health and well-being."

The Ministry of the Environment stated"The photographs and videos of the quarry that you provided, along with your wife’s journal entries have been helpful in understanding the conditions at the site during the time of your concerns. As you may know this quarry is licenced by the MNR and must comply with several licencing conditions including a requirement to manage dust."

The MNR’s response reminded the operator of his obligations under the aggregate resources act and the environmental protection act.

I objected to that decision and filed an affidavit . Stating that we were given assurances by the gravel pit owner that he would mitigate the dust.

A crusher was put in front of our home that just sent us into total insanity with noise and dust.

The Township refused in any way to deal with the complaint we were told" they can do anything they want from 6:00 am. till 9:00 pm"

It has been two years now since my wife passed away and in that time all that was ever done was a charge of failing to have a Certificate of Authorization to crush on this site. The outcome of that was a plea bargain with the MNR Prosecutor which resulted in "The MNR prosecutor reviewed all your video/photo evidence and as you know,, there was a plea agreement made prior to court which resulted in Crains' Construction Ltd pleading guilty and was fined $1000.00. Thanks for your evidence and willingness to be a witness....

Thanks again .........."

On multiple times I have argued about the dust from this site only to be met with the MOE saying it falls under the responsibility of the MNR. The MNR in turn says it is the responsibility of the MOE. I have now sent a complaint to the Ontario Ombudsman.

I have fought for almost two years and in that time have lost close to $50,000.00. If I would wish to pursue this with a public nuisance under the environmental bill of rights the Environmental Commissioner says it best. http://www.eco.on.ca/index.php?page=sue-to-protect-a-public-resource&hl=en_US.

I have had tests done on the dust to find what could have caused my wife to get so sick. In the analysis of the dust there is crystalline silica. I had asked the MOE in the begining if they knew what was in the dust also I asked the MNR. The MOE officer said.

"Hi Ken, the MOE has not done testing at this or other aggregate sites around the province that I’m aware of. I’m not sure about MNR as the lead agency for these types of operations."

As to the death of my wife I cannot prove that the dust was a direct cause of her death, since there was no autopsy I can not prove that was the cause. Had I not been told by the coroner that he did not want to do an autopsy and that she probably died from angina, even after I told him about the dust and x-rays, and I had been in my right mind things may be different? I guess even though there was silica in the dust why would we breath it? Why would she need drugs to help her breath I guess we just imagined it? Just like there is no such thing as second hand smoke?

Sorry for the sarcasm but I am fed up with the Ministries and the Government over the way that they have handled this.

The point I am trying to make aware is that the Government as well as the Ministries are not capable of handling anything on this scale let alone a small gravel pit. Should this project ever go through this is what you can expect from the Government. As far as the Project is concerned we were given assurances and as you can see from the videos where that went. Like all projects they are based on assumptions. As for example nuclear power stations have built in safeguards, well we all know how well they work, Chalk river, Chernobyl, Japan. I think the bottom line comes down to can we afford to loose agricultural land as well as the possible contamination of a water source. Would it not be more realistic to find a place away from human activity where the land is baron and the risk of water contamination is nill.

Just remember what our Premier says We understand that all Ontarians deserve to live and work in clean, safe communities – communities in which the environment contributes to our health and well-being."

I do thank you for allowing me to state my sorrow and pain on your fight to save your community.

Ken Cressey

A concerned Ontarian

No Mega Quarry