A community group opposed to a rock quarry in Highlands is back at the drawing board after the B.C. Supreme Court denied its request for a judicial review of the province’s decision to approve a mining permit for the 26-acre project.
Scott Richardson, chairman of the Highlands District Community Association, said the group is disappointed but not surprised by the decision, and is now considering its options.
“The ruling shows there is nothing in the legislation that sufficiently recognizes the legitimate concerns of groundwater-dependent communities,” he said. “As it turns out, the provincial legislation blocks our community’s voice and trumps the vision and values.”
The community had raised concerns the quarry will have adverse effects on the aquifer Highlands residents rely on for drinking water, increase noise and dust, and damage the quality of life for those living nearby.
Richardson said it is disheartening that the Millstream Road quarry project can go forward in Premier John Horgan’s own constituency, when the government likes to highlight its cutting-edge climate-change policies.
“I understand that we can’t expect industry to always do what is best for the planet and our future, but we should be able to count on our government to modernize its legislation to protect us from the worst impulses of the private sector,” Richardson said.
Victoria-based OK Industries floated the idea of the rock quarry four years ago, after buying the 26-acre property in 2015 for $4.2 million. The company applied to have it rezoned to accommodate commercial and light industrial activity from its green-belt designation.
When the District of Highlands rejected the proposal in 2016, OK applied to the province for a mines permit for a quarry. That permit was granted earlier this year.
General manager Mel Sangha said OK Industries Ltd. respects the community association’s right to undertake court action and is happy it’s now over. He said the company plans to begin construction of an access road on its lands within the quarry footprint by May.
The company has applied to the District of Highlands for a driveway permit and hopes to obtain it in the next few weeks.
Sangha said actual work on the quarry will be delayed until next year, as it will be in court with the District of Highlands dealing with the question of jurisdiction over activities such as tree cutting on the property.
The rock from the quarry is to be turned into aggregate — used for building roads and other infrastructure — on site. At the end of the quarry’s life, there will be level ground for commercial use.
Sangha has said the company does not not intend to dig down into the land, leaving the surface two metres above grade. He also noted they have addressed environmental concerns, protected old-growth trees, increased tree buffers around the site and reduced the amount of rock they would remove, giving the quarry an active of life of about 16 years instead of 25.
