On Saturday September 14th, the BEA participated in a fall Ecofest event in support of the Credit Valley Conservation Authority. Organized by Unifor’s GTA West Environmental Council, the event boasted food, live music, kids games, and local beer supplied by Goodlot Brewery. All proceeds from the beer sales as well as a silent auction went to supporting the Credit Valley Foundation.
The BEA table was staffed by BEA Board members, Pauline Thornham and Dayle and David Laing. While public attendance was sparse the event provided a great networking opportunity. Sustainable product vendors participated along with environmental groups including, Stop the 413 now, Forks of the Credit Preservation Group and, Halton Hills Climate Action.
As the name implies, Stop the 413 does not favour the Province’s plan to build another limited access super highway that would start at the 407/401 interchange in Halton Hills, run through the centre of the new Heritage Heights community planned for Brampton’s northwest, then across the southern part of Caledon and Vaughan where it would end at the 427.
Building the highway would pave over 2,000 acres of greenbelt/prime farmland. It would cross more than 130 streams and rivers where the runoff would further degrade the habitat of over 25 at risk species. And many experts believe the $10 Billion, estimated cost of the highway could be better spent on transit projects, healthcare and education.
Forks of the Credit Preservation Group is trying to put a stop to a proposed deep mine blast quarry in Central Caledon. Deep mine blast quarries use explosives to extract rock below the existing water table. This type of mine typically results in changes to the flow of underground aquifers and may affect the surface flows and levels of surrounding streams and lakes.
The proposed site is on almost 798 acres of greenbelt farmland and forest and forms part of the headwaters of the Credit River. Quarries are open pit mines that would require removal of all trees and topsoil and leave a hole in the ground over 80ft deep. According to the group, the need for aggregate to build roads and highways could be provided by existing mines and by recycling construction materials.
The Halton Hills Climate Action (HHCA) group advocates to local, regional, provincial and federal government levels for strong climate action. In 2019 Town Council declared a climate emergency. Since then it has been working on a plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030. As a result of connecting with the BEA at the Ecofest event, HHCA will be inviting municipal leaders from their community to attend the Low Carbon District Energy Forum on November 5th, hosted by the Centre for Community Energy Transformation, a Brampton not-for-profit agency.
The BEA’s primary purpose for attending the EcoFest event was to increase awareness of the proposed expansion plans for the Emerald Energy from Waste incinerator and invite folks to come to a community information night to be held at Century Gardens Recreation Centre on Wednesday October 9th. See the BEA events page for more information and to register.
It’s unfortunate that the primary objective of so many environmental groups is to stop a proposed development project. There is no question we need economic growth in our communities but too often that growth results in consumption of scarce resources and the destruction of fragile ecosystems. We need a better approach for articulating the vision of an environmentally sustainable future and a mechanism for evaluating economic benefit against environmental destruction. That process can’t come soon enough!