Pedersen denies new surface mining operation in Rivers

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This article was published 01/05/2021 (1962 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A proposal to kick-start new aggregate mining operations just south of Rivers is dead in the water, according to Minister of Agriculture and Resource Development Blaine Pedersen.

The minister made this announcement during Wednesday’s Question Period in the Legislative Assembly after being prompted for an update on the quarry permit application process by River Heights MLA Jon Gerrard.

“Our government recognizes that this particular piece of Crown land has significant environmental concerns,” Pedersen said. “And after careful review … I’m pleased to tell the member for River Heights, and to the people around Rivers, that the permit has been denied.”

This quarry permit was submitted by representatives from Western Asphalt Products, who wanted to establish surface mining operations roughly 10 kilometres south of Rivers to extract sand, gravel and crushed stone from an area that’s around 10 acres in size.

These raw materials, also known as aggregate, would then be used for various infrastructure projects across the province, including highway construction.

However, this proposed mining project faced heavy opposition from a vocal contingent of Rivers residents, especially those who lived adjacent to where the quarry would be set up if approved.

Gerrard briefly echoed some of their concerns during Wednesday’s Question Period, having personally toured this area of Westman and met with some of its residents earlier this month.

“The area has native forest and prairie and is an incredible wildlife habitat, including for endangered and threatened species. The area also has important archaeological sites,” he said. “The gravel pit would have a significant adverse impact on these (factors) as well as on drainage in the area.”

During his tour of the region, Gerrard met with residents Eleanor and Marlin Beever, who have been leasing that section of Crown land for decades for cattle grazing.

As such, the couple has been one of the most vocal detractors of the proposed mining operation, letting their true feelings be known during a public hearing that took place at the Riverdale Community Centre on April 6.

“My dad used to call it God’s country,” Marlin said during the meeting. “I don’t see why people would want to desecrate that environment, but I guess it’s hard to see the beauty with dollar signs in your head.”

Talking to the Sun on Thursday, Eleanor said she was relieved to hear that the province had denied this mining application.

“It’s been a big part of our life and we would like to leave it for the next generation,” she said. “We have a 22-month-old grandson and we would sure like to ensure that he sees and enjoys it.”

However, representatives from Western Asphalt told the Sun on Thursday that the company’s mining application is still pending at this time.

As of 5 p.m. Friday, the status of the company’s quarry lease for this area, registered under the number “QL-3321,” is still categorized as “pending” on the province’s Integrated Mining and Quarrying System (iMaQs) website.

A provincial spokesperson responded to the Sun’s follow-up inquiry on Friday to confirm that the application has been denied.

Adam Mahaney, Western Asphalt’s Manitoba division general manager, also took issue with Gerrard’s characterization of the proposed mining site south of Rivers on Wednesday.

“We have to complete a heritage impact assessment, which has not been completed yet,” Mahaney said. “But he’s basically making claims that there is an Indian burial ground on the site, which nobody knows because nobody has done an impact assessment.”

When confronted about these claims, Gerrard provided the Sun with a memorandum from the Manitoba Historic Resources Branch, which has already examined the site in question.

In a letter dated March 8, a representative from the branch stated that they are wary of the impact a mining operation could have on “both known archaeological sites and human burials, as well as unknown heritage resource sites.”

“The proposed pit is located on the edge of a large glacial meltwater channel, and there are also numerous archaeological sites in the immediate area, including Precontact Indigenous settlements with intact (tipi) rings and other stone features, as well as historic cart trails, and human burials,” the representative wrote. “These factors, to name a few, suggest that any future planned development within the area has the potential to impact heritage resources.”

The letter ends with the Manitoba Historic Resources Branch ordering the applicant in question, Western Asphalt, to contract a qualified archaeological consultant to conduct a heritage impact assessment.

According to Mahaney, this process is yet to be concluded, which makes the outright cancellation of this mining application by Pedersen premature.

Mahaney also took issue with Gerrard’s claim that the proposed mining site is home to endangered species since he said Manitoba Conservation hasn’t made this determination on this front during the consultation process.

However, Gerrard told the Sun that at least one Rivers resident told him about the presence of several threatened species of birds during his tour of the area, including the bobolink, red-headed woodpecker and the loggerhead shrike.

The Beevers reaffirmed the existence of these birds in the area during a follow-up conversation with the Sun on Friday, which is why they are already taking steps to try and classify the proposed mining site as protected land moving forward.

“I mean, this is a pretty important piece of land for habitat,” Marlin said on Thursday. “It’s a wildlife corridor, and it needs to be respected for that. It doesn’t need to be torn asunder by a pit that … people in our area would say isn’t needed.”

Mahaney also mentioned that the Beevers’ opposition to this new mining application should be brought into question since Marlin has his own registered quarry operations in the same exact area.

A quick search on the iMaQs website revealed that Marlin has registered 15 quarry leases since 2007, with the most recent lease being issued on March 31.

In response, Marlin told the Sun that his mining operations do not pose the same environmental impact that Western Asphalt’s project would if it was approved.

“Our quarry has nothing to do with what we are trying to save in that piece of Crown land. They are absolutely two separate entities,” he said. “Whether or not we have a quarry doesn’t change the fact that we have the Crown land under lease and we’ve had it for years and we want to maintain it and we want to see it protected going forward.”

Additionally, Marlin said he and his wife aren’t the only local residents opposing this mining operation from Western Asphalt, pointing to the April 6 public hearing in Rivers where the vast majority of the attendees who spoke up objected to the proposal.

In fact, at the beginning of the hearing, officials representing Riverdale Municipality revealed that they had received 21 letters from Westman residents opposing the application beforehand and only received four letters in support.

“If I’m in a conflict of interest, I can give you the name of 150 other people who are not in a conflict of interest, who are likely as adamant or more adamant than we are to see this piece of land protected,” Marlin said.

Mahaney told the Sun on Friday that Western Asphalt is going to appeal the minister’s denial of their mining application, wanting the heritage impact assessment to be complete before an official decision can be made.

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