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At the core of CCMB's concern is a 1,000 acre block of former Algoma Central Railway lands at Michipicoten Harbour that has been sold to a U.S.company which intends to strip the site of soil, vegetation, and timber, and then drill, blast and crush the coastal rock to within 60 metres of the Lake Superior shoreline. The resulting aggregate is destined for shipment by freighter to Michigan for use in highway construction.

Superior Aggregates is a subsidiary of the Carlo Companies Group, based in the state of Michigan. The privately-held block of land is nestled within the Lake Superior shoreline which has been designated as part of the Great Lakes Heritage Coast and thus targeted for environmental protection and eco-tourism. The quarry site is also bounded by the Michipicoten First Nation. Current area residents are concerned that unmitigated development may potentially threaten lake water quality, air quality, fish and wildlife habitat, drinking water sources, future potential use of the Bay as a destination for adventure tourism, and enjoying the quiet use of their residential property.  

Many residents and visitors to the Wawa-Michipicoten Bay area are not convinced that several potentially serious environmental, economic, and social issues have been adequately addressed  through the Company's aggregate licence application or its Official Plan Amendment.   A number of provincial, national, and international environmental organizations have supported CCMB's call for a higher degree of environmental scrutiny, including the Federation of Ontario Naturalists, the Sierra Club, the National Wildlife Federation, Lake Superior Alliance, and Great Lakes United. Prominent individuals joining this effort most recently include Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President of the WaterKeepers Alliance, and the Champions of the Great Lakes Heritage Coast, comprised of twenty noteworthy and illustrious Canadians.

 

 

Provided below is a brief chronology of events that have transpired at Michipicoten Harbour, leading up to the present-day dissension concerning the proposed traprock quarry:

 

 

HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS


1890’s

  • has been used as a port facility since the 1890’s to service the iron ore mine in Wawa and for forestry, commercial fishing, and coal for railway locomotives and for petroleum products.


1998

  • iron ore mine closed


1999

  • Great Lakes Heritage Coast announced as one of nine signature sites in Ontario’s Living Legacy

  • Land originally owned by Algoma Central Railway then sold to the Sanitary Landfill and Mining Company and then to the current owner, Superior Aggregates Corporation bought the 386h property in 1999

  • Current zoning includes Rural; Hazard Lands; M1 General Industrial; and M2 Restricted Industrial. Nowhere on the property is there M3 Extractive Industrial zoning.


2000

  • railway to the harbour removed

 

2002

  • Citizens Concerned for Michipicoten Bay (CCMB) is formed

  • CCMB questioned the suitability of the existing municipal zoning for the area to be developed by Superior Aggregates. The Township’s decision was that the current zoning was suitable.

  • CCMB with counsel, Malcolm McLeod, successfully challenged the Township’s opinion in court.

  • In January of 2003, the solicitors for Superior Aggregates agreed with CCMB that the property be re-zoned and applied for re-zoning on 35 hectares (about 10%) of their property.

  • CCMB submitted a request for a full Environmental Assessment to the Minister of the Environment.

 

2003
  • Township went through the process of re-zoning 10% of SAC property and submitted an Offical Plan Amendment (OPA4) to the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing (MMAH) for approval.
  • CCMB becomes a not-for-profit corporation.
  • CCMB retained a professional planner, Anthony Usher, who reviewed the  re-zoning proposal and submitted a report to MMAH.
  • CCMB’s legal action for costs in rezoning issue heard by Ontario Superior Court judge.  Judge is critical of Council and awards in favour of CCMB.

 

 
2004  
  • at the request of the Environmental Assessment Branch CCMB presented a full binder to the Minister of the Environment supporting the request for an Environmental Assessment (EA). Supported by 100's of individual letters and 1000's of form letters as well as Environmental Groups in both Canada and the US.
  • August:  Provincial Government, under emergency legislation, extended the Aggregate Resources Act (ARA) (which applies to all private land in all of Southern Ontario) to twelve townships around the Township of Michipicoten. Superior Aggregates would now have to file for licences under this Act.
  • CCMB made the case that the ARA is not enough to protect the environmentally sensitive shore of Lake Superior and continues to push for a full Environmental Assessment.
  • November:  SAC submited an application under the ARA for a Category 3 and Category 4 aggregate licence for 10% of their property.  This licence is for above the water table extraction
  • December:  Government refused requests for an Environmental Assessment.
 
2005
  •  January:  CCMB retained environmental and municipal lawyer, Peter Pickfield
  •  CCMB after a rigorous application process is accepted for charitable status under Environmental Defence
  •  lawyer negotiated successfully with Superior Aggregates to have copies of ARA applications sent to CCMB and their experts for review.
  •  under Freedom Of  Information (FOI), CCMB applied for and received MNR and MOE comments on ARA application.
  •  February:  lawyer successfully argued before a FOI Commissioner for the release of a draft geology report that SAC had submitted to the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) but refused to the public
  • April:  copy of the draft geology report was provided to CCMB and the presence of sulphides on SAC property is confirmed.  This directly relates to the question of acid-mine drainage in the quarry operation.
  •  July:  Acoustical Engineer ,John Coulter, made a site visit
  • November:  CCMB’s land use Planner, Anthony Usher, in consultation with lawyer and CCMB drew up and submitted on behalf of CCMB an alternative Official Plan Amendment (OPA6).  It includes the entire property, not just 10%. It is more comprehensive with an environmental focus not present in the SAC/Municipality’s Amendment.
  • seventeen days later, the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing, after two years on file, approved Municipality’s OPA4 despite unresolved issues.
  • December:  CCMB formally appealed the OPA4 decision to the Ontario Municipal Board. (That appeal is still pending)
  • CCMB retained a hydrogeologist , Paul Bowen
 
  2006

  • hydrogeologist submitted report to MNR/MOE arguing that more drilling and monitoring needs to be done to establish the location of the water table.

  • March:  CCMB Planner, Tony Usher, at Council’s request made a visit to Wawa to make a deputation regarding CCMB’s OPA6
  • OPA6 is refused by Council and CCMB appeals this to the Ontario Municipal Board
  • June:  SAC required by Ministry of Natural Resources to do more drilling and monitoring to establish location of water table
  • September:  SAC required by MNR to begin a completely new application process and submit a below the water table ARA application
  • CCMB launched a new website www.ccmb.ca
  • November:  SAC submitted the second ARA application, Category 1 and Category 2.  This one to permit quarrying below the water table.
  • lawyer, planner, hydrogeologist and acoustical engineer drew up and submitted, to MNR, on behalf of CCMB, a detailed letter of objection to the second application and requesting that this application be referred to the OMB if CCMB's concerns are not met.  Note that CCMB members and other members of the public submitted private letters of objection as well.
 
 2007
  • CCMB requested,  through FOI,  all MNR and MOE correspondence etc regarding SAC’s latest licencing application
  • April:  lawyer made a formal request to SAC and the Township that since all the issues appealed to the OMB since 2002 impact on one another, in the interests of time and expense for all, they should be consolidated and heard at one Ontario Municipal Board hearing rather than three.
  • SAC did not agree to consolidation.
  • CCMB lawyer filed a formal motion with the OMB to consolidate the OPA4 and OPA6 hearings.
  • Consolidation hearing is held in September
  • December: The CCMB request for consolidation of appeals before the Board is denied. A hearing on OPA6 will be scheduled later.

 

2008 

  • January: CCMB lawyer and experts submit further comments on the Superior Aggregates ARA application as requested by SAC consulting firm, DST.
  • April – May: CCMB offers to make our consultants available for meetings and discussions with DST and the relevant government agencies to see if outstanding issues can be resolved.
  • July: CCMB, several environmental organizations and members of the public write to the Minister of Natural Resources and request that she order DST and SAC to conduct more studies.
  • September: SAC ARA application is referred to the Ontario Municipal Board by the MNR. The application is consolidated with the zoning amendment and OPA4 appeals already before the Board.
  • Summer: CCMB carries out daily differential temperature monitoring as directed by the CCMB acoustical engineer during the spring and summer. Using a large helium balloon with attached temperature sensor, we are monitoring daily temperatures aloft and at lake level.
  • Dec 17: OMB Pre-hearing in Wawa – Pre-Hearing is conducted to confirm and identify all Parties and Participants to the full hearing, establish schedule for exchange of information among Parties, and establish date of fulle hearing. Full OMB Hearing will start in Wawa, Ontario on March 31, 2009.