Community members call for more time to comment on N.S. quarry expansion

People living near a rock quarry in Colchester County are upset about a proposed expansion of the mining operation, and say they need more time to respond to the company's application for environmental approval.

But the provincial department of environment says the timeline for the process is law and there's no chance of an extension.

A handful of people who live in the community of Little Dyke, N.S., disrupted the work of a legislature committee in Halifax on Tuesday to voice their concerns.

"We're at our wits end to try to get attention to what's going on here," Harvey MacEachern told reporters after he and others were asked to leave the meeting.

In the midst of a presentation by a government official on an unrelated topic, one of the community members played a recording of construction noises that MacEachern said they can hear from their homes for hours everyday.

"They're eating up our communities," said Barry Hutt, another member of the protest group.

Hutt was referring to the Irving-owned company OSCO Aggregates Ltd., which runs the quarry on Little Dyke Road. The company excavates sand and gravel for concrete plants and construction projects.

People who live in the area say the quarry has been there for decades, but for many years the operation was smaller than it is now.

OSCO expanded the pit in 2017, drawing the ire of some neighbours.

Now, the company has applied for provincial approval to expand again.

No one from OSCO was immediately available for comment.

According to the application to the province for environmental assessment, the operators are looking to expand the footprint of one of their pits by 30 hectares and add an electric plant where they could wash, screen and crush the rock they pull out of the ground.

The community members said they're already bothered by excessive noise and industrial traffic from the quarry, and they worry an expansion will only worsen and prolong the issue.

The company's description of the operation says it uses front-end loaders, bulldozers, dump trucks and excavators at least 12 to 14 hours a day, five to six days a week, year round. During peak season, operations expand to 22 to 24 hours a day.

The expansion could provide enough rock to keep operations going until 2055.

The community members say they're also worried about the health hazards of industrial dust blowing from the quarry to their homes.

OSCO's environmental assessment application notes that the expansion could impact the surrounding area with "fugitive dust, emissions from equipment, and light from limited nighttime operations." But it says those issues "are expected to be localized and minimal," and can be mitigated.

Hutt said the environmental assessment process is unfair because the company had unlimited time to prepare its application, which includes a 193-page document and five appendices.

As is standard with provincial environmental assessments, the public has 30 days to respond once the application is filed.

Hutt said that's why he and his neighbours decided to crash the government meeting.

"Our days are limited to do something," he said.

MacEachern said the community has talked to politicians about the issue, including local PC MLA Tom Taggart, but he feels their concerns have "fallen on deaf ears."

Taggart was at the disrupted committee meeting Tuesday and told reporters he's sympathetic to his constituents' plight.

He said he would advocate on their behalf to the environment minister, Tim Halman, to extend the comment period.

'These timelines are the law'

According to a spokesperson for the department of environment, that advocacy would be for naught.

"Timelines and processes for environmental assessments are set out in the Environment Act and its regulations," Kristin Matthews said in an email. 

"These timelines are the law; not something that the minister has the flexibility to decide."

The company filed its application on June 6, giving the public until July 6 to submit comments.

The environment minister has to decide whether to approve or reject the project by July 26.