WATER VALLEY - A local resident is concerned about noise, dust and heavy traffic coming from a nearby gravel pit.
Earl Rubin, who lives near Winchell Lake near Rge. Rd. 52, said that when he opens the windows in his house he can even smell the foul odour of hot asphalt emanating from the pit.
"Operation of the gravel pit has had a very real and persistent negative effect on quality of life for us and our neighbours," said Rubin. "It is abundantly clear that gravel crushing and asphalt plant operations are totally inappropriate and unacceptable in an area that is predominantly ranching and rural residential and designated by the county as being environmentally sensitive."
Rubin said some of his neighbours suffer from all the trucks "roaring up that steep grade, making a lot of noise and creating a lot of dust from early in the morning to about seven in the evening."
"The noise is so bad in the morning, starting at about 6 a.m.; they turn it down some time between 10 and 11 a.m.," he said. "It's so bad you have to turn the radio up inside the house with all the windows closed. The last few weeks, you know we were suffering with the wildfire smoke, so we've had that and asphalt smoke."
Rubin said there are a number of residential areas in the southwest area of the county that have been approved to start by the county. He said before that there was a couple of gravel pits nearby that were used sporadically over the years.
Rubin said that one of the pits was purchased by a construction company to be used for the construction of several lots. Rubin said a number of residents objected to it but the county went ahead.
"Our concern is that the county continues to allow large-scale heavy field operations to go on in a residential area and an environmentally sensitive area," he said. "They designated the Winchell coulee as an environmentally sensitive area. If you look at ebirds.org, which is hosted by Cornell University, it is one of the leading sites in North America for birdwatchers with 174 species found around here."
Rubin said that he and most of his neighbours are retired or semi-retired folks who "invested a large part of our life savings to be able to move out on an acreage."
"Others are ranchers or businessmen who moved here," he said.
Rubin said he has spoken to his county councillor (Greg Harris) and they talked about the possibility of chipping one section of the road.
"There are a number of technical measures the county could take," he said. "No one objects to gravel extraction in principle, but the county is always coming back with this story that there was always gravel here – you can't complain now."
Rubin said he is not against the occasional use of a tractor or front end loader, but he is "against turning a bird sanctuary and rural residential and ranching area into a heavy industrial area."
Rubin sent a letter to Harris and the county with his concerns as well as a second document with suggestions, which include using noise abatement structures for housing noisy equipment and paving Jack Eby Road (Rge. Rd. 53) and Twp. Rd. 290 up to the gravel pits with quiet asphalt.
Harris told the Gazette he is familiar with the situation and has spoken to nearby residents. He said the pits have all the appropriate zoning and permits.
"There's a licensed gravel pit operation out there," said Harris. "There is a temporary batch plant for making asphalt. Both of those are permitted and have gone through the process including the process of going to residents within a half mile of the pit and adjusting their hours of operation. They need to get more than half the residents consenting before that permit can be changed."
Harris said the company has gone around to the neighbours and got permission to operate one on extended hours and the other on 24-hour operation.
"The people who own the gravel pit and the people who have the batch plant and are doing the hauling on the roads have got the appropriate permits and have done so by going around and getting more than 50 per cent of the residents to sign off," he said.
Harris said if there are issues with a company not following conditions, the county can go back and ensure they follow the conditions on the permit.
"As long as they're complying with the permit there is nothing we can do," he said. "If an individual's specific complaints are something that's not being done properly we can act, but if someone has suggestions on how they can do it better, that's not within the county's purview to go to an operator and say, 'we want you to do it a different way.' They're permitted to do what they're doing right now."
Harris said the area is monitored from time to time by bylaw officers.
"We're not specifically going out there every day," he said. "It's complaint driven. The complaints I'm receiving from some people aren't that they are violating the permit specifically, just that it could be done differently or done a better way."
Harris said there are no plans currently to investigate the issue further.
"Right now there's nothing on the horizon," he said. "What complaints the county has received have been investigated and some have been acted on."
