Quarry operators at the Sarawak Quarry in the Georgian Bluffs are looking to expand.
Grey County Council has received an official plan amendment application for an expansion of the Sarawak Quarry.
Located in the the township of Sarawak and the township of Georgian Bluffs, the Sarawak Quarry is located along the west side of County Road 1, two-kilometres northwest of the Cobble Beach settlement area.
“The reason the applicant is required to go through the county official amendment process is because the lands are not currently recognized under the county plan as an aggregate resource area,” said Stephanie Lacey-Avon, planner with the County of Grey. “A zoning bylaw from the town of Georgian Bluffs is also required for this application.”
The current Sarawak site is owned and operated by Harold Sutherland Construction Ltd, a division of Walker Industries.
The bedrock foundation of the Sarawak quarry is known as Manitoulin Formation, which yields both Granular A and Granular B crushed stone. These materials are typically used in road construction.
The application seeks to expand the existing quarry by 33.14 hectares of land, with 15.55 to be licensed and 14.3 hectares to be extracted.
The bedrock foundations in the expansion area have not been mapped. Quality of the material is based on test hole observations.
The application outlines the possible extraction quantities, based on the average extraction depth of six metres, over the proposed 14.3 hectares to be approximately 2.1 million tonnes of crushed stone.
“The existing quarry to the north is currently licensed to extract 400,000 tons on an annual basis. The operator will be seeking a license for the new extraction area, however the cumulative annual extraction will remain the same at 400,000 tons,” Lacey-Avon said. “The hauling pattern will also remain the same and the entrance will remain off of Grey Road 1.”
The proposed quarry expansion site is Park Lot 36, Concession 2. The land was previously used to grow cash crops and is surrounded by both agricultural and residential lands. A residential subdivision is located to the southeast along Ishwar Drive.
According to Lacey-Avon, “there are currently no outstanding concerns from members of the public at this time.”
Prior to bringing this application to council, the project has undergone several studies – including a hydrogeological study, a natural environment technical report, a noise impact assessment, a blast impact assessment, a Karst Hazard Impact Assessment, and an archaeological assessment.
The applicant has also begun a license application through the Aggregate Resources.
Grey County Council will move forward with this application and plans to schedule a public meeting in the coming weeks. A date for the meeting has not yet been set.
