Advocacy group calls for a moratorium on new gravel pits in Ontario

A advocacy group called the Reform Gravel Mining Coalition wants a moratorium on new gravel pits and quarries in Ontario, and argues a recent report from Ontario’s auditor general gives more fuel to that cause.

For more than 10 years Rhonda Kirby has been fighting a proposed gravel quarry which would be located near the northern Ontario town of Blind River.

A 2019 study from Laurentian University researchers determined that the area for the proposed quarry, located along the edge of Lauzon Lake, had among the "highest reported densities" for Blanding's turtles in Ontario.

During their field research, scientists found 56 of the turtles in the area, for a density of 1.8 turtles per hectare.

Blanding's turtles, which have a bright yellow throat and chin, are recognized as a threatened species in Ontario.

Kirby is a member of the Reform Gravel Mining Coalition, which argues the province should have a moratorium on new gravel pits and quarries until it can ensure there are sufficient checks and balances in place to protect and eventually rehabilitate areas like the one near Lauzon Lake.

Kirby, and the group, argue that the auditor general’s follow-up report on the management of aggregate resources in Ontario “raised serious concerns about oversight of the sector.”

The auditor general’s initial report, in 2023, made 31 recommendations to Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources to improve how it regulates the aggregate industry.

They recommended the minister increase the number of inspections at pits and quarries, and create a strategy to rehabilitate long dormant sites.

Two years later, four of the recommendations were fully implemented, nine were in the process of being implemented, 10 had little to no progress and eight would not be implemented at all.

"We need to put things on hold until we can fix the system,” Kirby said.

“We need better legislation, we need more strict protections. Things that will fall in line with not just the environment but community health and safety."

When asked whether its report made the case for a moratorium on new gravel pits, the office of the auditor general of Ontario replied in an email to CBC News that that would be a policy decision.

“Our office does not comment on, or audit, policy decisions,” the email said.