Two separate meetings were held Wednesday night regarding a controversial gravel pit in Woolwich Township.
The company operating the pit held a Q & A session, while upset residents hoping to kill the deal held their own information meeting.
Preston Sand and Gravel was awarded a deal to dig at the Jigs Hollow Pit near Winterbourne.
However, when the work began in 2013, they hit groundwater.
The operating license originally granted to the company allowed it to dig up to 1.5 meters above the water table.
Work on the site was halted, and the company is now asking the Ministry of Natural Resources for permission to dig below the water table.
If the Ministry agrees, it would mean work on site would last 15 to 20 years, instead of the original 8 years.
Residents aren’t happy with the proposed extension.
“It means a much longer pit life... there's no guaranteed date as to when this goes away. It also means that afterward they’re going below water so you can’t possibly rehabilitate this to farmland. It will be a pond for a long time afterwards,” said Tony Dowling, a member of the group Friends of Winterbourne Valley.
The original plan would allow Preston Sand and Gravel to remove 150,000 tons of gravel per year. If approval to dig below the water table is granted, that number would not change.
Before any digging can begin, both the Ministry of Natural Resources and Woolwich Township would need to approve the changes.
With reporting by Marc Venema
