Development permit approved for phase 1 of Summit Pit

Improvements are already underway for Range Road 40 in preparation for the development of the first phase of the Summit Pit.

By a 5-2 margin, Rocky View County (RVC) council has approved the first of six phases for the development of the aggregate operation of the Mountain Ash Limited Partnership, subject to numerous conditions.

Those conditions include intersection upgrade, berm construction along Hwy. 567, site reclamation, groundwater measurement program, complaint protocol, report submissions, and registration of the project with Alberta Environment and Parks. 

No more than 40 acres of the excavation area can be opened at any given time. The sand and gravel extraction will be crushed and screened on-site before being shipped. Hours of operation will be Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. It will be closed Sundays and all statutory holidays.

The county will be paid 40 cents per ton of aggregate extracted and removed.

Council fine-tuned the conditions of the developing permit being approved during its July 13 meeting. 

Div. 6 councillor Greg Boehlke focused his attention on the communications plan of Mountain Ash and sought assurances that concerns of nearby residents are addressed promptly.

Before the release of the permit, council requires the submission of a good neighbouring plan for review, amendment, and approval by the county council. It must include a complaint protocol that provides 24/7 contact information for residents for the life of the project.

Additionally, the county council requires a plan to assist neighbours should any groundwater be affected.

Mountain Ash consultant Ken Venner said Mountain Ash has offered to install groundwater monitoring devices in the existing wells of nearby residents. He said the company is willing to provide a replacement source of water within 24 hours for any wells shown to be impacted by the aggregate operation.

An attempt by Div. 8 Councillor Samanntha Wright to have extraction occur four metres above the groundwater levels failed. Instead, it will remain at a one-metre threshold.

It was one of the recommendations of a report by Dr. Jon Fennell to protect the Bighill Creek watershed and the Big Hill Springs Provincial Park.

Fennell believes the removal of up to 20-30 metres of gravel will significantly reduce the ability of the aquifer to filter out natural and/or introduced contaminants that will occur as part of the development.

His recommendations continue to be disputed by the aggregate mining company. Venner says the company is convinced the operation will not impact groundwater.

"Our hydrogeologist does not believe or has concluded from his perspective that there are going to be any impacts to the provincial park, the Big Hill Creek, or groundwater sources in and around the area," Consultant Ken Venner told council.

Wright favoured moving the opening phase further north on the property. Phase One is located in the southeast corner and is closest to the Big Hill Springs Provincial Park.

Venner says the southeast corner was selected to mine into the face of the slope, then extend north.

"The reason for that is to try to prevent visual impacts, potential noise impacts as well to the residents that are located to the northeast and the north of the Summit Pit."

It was amended from the original master plan of 2017 that initially had phasing closer to Hwy. 567.

Unlike the Mar. 2 public hearing, public submissions did not play a major role. Those missing the deadline were not included, and 31 minutes of video were not part of the discussion.

However, numerous objections to the aggregate operation were received, including a petition organized by Aynsley Foss, of Save Big Hill Springs Provincial Park that calls for no major industrial development to occur within 5 km of the park.

At the time of submission, there were 9,847 signatures on the petition, and Foss says there are now over 10,000. She says the petition will remain online.

"I think it's important from a public awareness perspective. A lot of the public is not aware of the issue, and they're quite shocked when they learn about it."

"Right now, we're weighing options to do a formal petition to the Alberta Government."

She says decisions on aggregate resources in Alberta are not guided by their own provincial act, as they are in jurisdictions like Ontario. She says gravel is not just a Rocky View issue and believes the playing field could be levelled by eliminating local politics from the equation.

She is disappointed by the decision reached.

"Some in the group were not surprised. I was because I was really hopeful that council would consider the public in this permit application."

The rezoning of the land from agriculture to direct control was approved by RVC council on Mar. 2.