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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCD-66-98 .. . oj UNFINISHED BUSINESS THE CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON REPORT , Meeting: General Purpose & Administration Committee File # ~O? ."BL --............. Date: December 7, 1998 Res. #G e f) -l.t7~3:> cIS: Report No: CD-66-98 By-law # _ Subject: PROPERTY OWNER'S COMPLAINT RE BLUE CIRCLE CEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS: It is respectfully recommended that the General Purpose and Administration Committee recommend to Council the following: 1 . THAT Report CD-66-98 be received; and 2. THAT a copy of Report CD-66-98 be forwarded to Valerie Dostie, Ben Coelen and Blue Circle Cement Company. BACKGROUND: At the September 28 meeting of Council Mrs. Valerie Dostie presented a letter outlining several concerns she had about the operations of Blue Circle Cement. Mrs. Dostie lives at the south end of Waverley Road. Staff were instructed to prepare a report addressing her concerns. Subsequent to this direction, staff have also received a letter of concern from another local resident, Mr. Ben Coelen. Both of their concerns have been incorporated into this report. By way of background, Blue Circle and its predecessor St. Mary's Cement have operated from their current site since 1966. The site was approved following a Ministry of the Environment approval process and an Ontario Municipal Board hearing. During the approval process it was recognized that the operation might create some dust and noise, however it was acknowledged that this area was an established industrial zone and such a use was appr9priate. At the time, the Noise By-law included an exemption for pits and quarries licensed under the Pits and Quarries Act. In 1987 this exemption was more clearly defined to include the routine operations of St. Mary's Cement. This exemption has been carried through to today. Mrs. Dostie lives at 707 Waverley Road South and Mr. Coelen at 16 Cedar Crest Beach Road. Both parties shared certain complaints, dust, noise and fumes or emissions. Mr. Coelen goes on to list blasting problems, loss of his well, closure of Waverley Road and destruction of the natural environment. I 1 . CD-66-98 - 2 - December 7, 1998 This report will deal with each of these matters. In preparing this report staff have spoken to the Ministry of the Environment, Blue Circle, Planning and Development Department and Public Works Department. NATURE OF COMPLAINTS: DUST: The dust appears to originate from six areas; the quarry, the smokestack, the overburden removal, the internal roads, Blue Circle Aggregates Crushing and Stockpiling operation, and the haul road. Dust from the quarry is minimal. The quarry by its nature contains almost all the dust. The matter of the smokestack will be addressed later in this report. The overburden and the internal roads are all treated with water on a regular basis (up to three times per day) as needed and the road is treated with calcium chloride. The 1997 Principles of Understanding recognized Blue Circle Aggregates as a problem and required the facility to be re-Iocated. Blue Circle's intention is to move the facility onto their site. The haul road is owned by Blue Circle and leased to the Municipality. As such, maintenance of the road is a municipal responsibility, however, Blue Circle has taken responsibility for treating the road on occasion. The clearing of the overburden was done by a contractor. They have finished for the year and a new contractor has been hired for next year. Blue Circle has indicated they will be requiring stricter dust and noise controls from the new contractor. All non-paved roads in the area are to be treated with calcium chloride. This will include the road used for transporting the rock to the processing site, the shoulders of the municipal haul road and the entranceway to Cedar Crest Beach Road from the haul road. When the work begins again it will start closer to Cedar Crest Beach Road and move away from the area. This may cause some initial discomfort but as the work continues the overburden will be stockpiled along the southwest edge of the work area. This will create a natural barrier. The Ministry of the Environment has conducted dust level tests over the last year on the property directly south of the Dostie's. The Ministry's test results show the dust level to fall within the permitted upper limits of the Ministry guidelines. FUMES AND EMISSIONS: The primary source of fumes is the exhaust from trucks using the haul road and excavating equipment working on stripping off the overburden. The Ministry of Transportation has been contacted concerning exhaust emissions from the licensed vehicles. The Ministry's regulations do not apply to the excavation equipment since they are by definition not motor vehicles within the meaning of The Highway Traffic Act. Blue Circle has required the contractor's vehicles to comply with current Ontario Emissions standards. As stated previously, the removal work will be moving away from Dostie's and Coelen's residences as work progresses to the northeast. I I 2 CD-66-98 - 3 - December 7, 1998 Smoke and fumes from the smokestack are monitored by Blue Circle and have been checked by the Ministry of the Environment. Staff are presently conferring with the Ministry to determine the levels of particulate being emitted from the stack. If the particulate levels are in violation of the Ministry's guidelines, staff will advise Council accordingly. BLASTING: Blue Circle blasts on a regular schedule in their quarry. A consulting firm monitors all the blasts and their readings are reported to the Municipality. The blast readings are all well within the Ministry's permitted limits. In the case of damage caused by blasting, Blue Circle contacts their insurance company to investigate the claim. WELLS: Blue Circle has conducted ongoing water level monitoring for both onsite and selected residential wells to judge the impact of the quarry operations. Blue Circle maintains that none of their readings indicate values outside of the historical water level range for the area. Quality monitoring of wells in the area indicates bacterial problems related to the proximity of the wells to existing septic systems. In any situation where Blue Circle's operations are perceived to have possibly adversely impacted water supplies in the area, the company has provided water to the resident. Mr. Coelen complained that the company had ruined his well. Tests showed that his well levels had dropped but it could not be conclusively linked to the quarry. Blue Circle has taken the initiative and supplied Mr. Coelen with a large water tank at no cost to him. Mr. Coelen has indicated that his water gets stagnant over the summer. Blue Circle has offered to have the tank drained and refilled or removed and a smaller one installed in its place. The company cannot control any freezing of the water over the winter. CLOSURE OF WAVERLEY ROAD: This matter was addressed in Report ADMIN 47-97 and the Principles of Understanding. Mr. Coelen's concern of the delay for emergency vehicles was dealt with at that time. The Principles of Understanding require that emergency vehicles will have access to Cedar Crest Beach through the Blue Circle plant site if needed. DESTRUCTION OF THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT: The Agreement reached between Blue Circle and the Municipality last fall was intended, among other things, to protect at least part of the natural environment. The Ministry of Natural Resources, the Federal Ministry of Fisheries and Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority are responsible for the protection of the natural marsh environment. I 13 , CD-66-98 - 4- December 7, 1998 This leaves one last area of concern to be addressed. NOISE: The most difficult of all issues to resolve is the matter of noise. The noise level may be mitigated to some extent by the ongoing work on the overburden. As the soil is stripped and stockpiled, it will create a large berm between Cedar Crest Beach and the Blue Circle operations. There will still be some noise and dust from the vehicles driving up onto the berm as they work. The company will address this matter with the new contractor hired to do the work. One of Mrs. Dostie's central issues is the Noise By-law exemption given to Blue Circle for, "its I icensed pit and quarry operations and all accessory issues related thereto". (By-law 89- 184, Section 4(j)). There are several options available to Council in this matter. They are: 1. Leave the Noise By-law as is. The company has enjoyed the exemption since 1966 long before many of the current neighbours resided in the area. As Blue Circle has stated, their operation is moving further north, therefore the noise impact on the surrounding residents should be lessened in the near future. 2. Repeal the existing By-law and enact a new one under The Municipal Act. This would be a subjective By-law with very broad powers to exempt. At present the Municipality's Noise By-law contains thirteen separate exemptions for various different matters. Council would then need to revisit the entire issue of exemptions under the By-law, deciding whom, if anyone, would be exempted and for what purpose. 3. Repeal the existing By-law and enact a new subjective or quantitative By-law based on the Environmental Protection Act (E.P.A.). Under a subjective By-law we could keep most, but not all of our current legislation. More important to the matter at hand, any exemption could not extend beyond six months. This is the maximum time permitted under the M.O.E.'s Model Noise By-law. In addition, any E.P.A. based By-law requires the approval of the Minister. A quantitative By-law would require all industries in the Municipality to comply with the relevant provincial limits. The Municipality may restrict the areas of the Town where the By-law is to apply but there is no leeway given to alter any of the prescribed sound level limits set out by the Ministry in its Regulations. As is the case with a subjective By-law, any exemption given under the By-law could not extend beyond six months. I I 4 CD-66-98 - 5 - December 7, 1998 , An E.P.A. based By-law would drastically change the Municipality's current method of handling noise complaints and noise related issues. Given the fact that a Municipality cannot alter or amend Ministry guideline noise limits, the current method of dealing with specific industries and other situations as outlined in the Municipality's By-law would no longer apply if the Environmental Protection Act's guidelines are exceeded. It should be noted that in 1990 a noise study was conducted by Blue Circle to determine compliance with the Provincial Model Noise By-law standards. At that time the findings did not indicate any breach of the prescribed limits. Blue Circle is in the process of implementing a new noise monitoring survey. If the new survey indicates any exceedence of the permitted limits they will act to correct the situation. In order to enforce such a By-law, staff would require the purchase of Ministry approved equipment. Any recording of sound levels must be done at the time of the incident. In many cases this will require having staff available 24 hours per day to conduct such readings. This will necessitate significant commitment in staff time and resources in order to conduct monitoring and is beyond our current manpower capability. CONCLUSION: It should be noted that many of Dostie's and Coelen's complaints are being addressed through the Blue Circle Community Relations Committee. This group is comprised of two representatives from the Port Darlington Community Association, two from Aspen Springs Community Association, two from Blue Circle and two members of municipal staff. The discussions with Blue Circle have been very informative and productive. In the new year the work will be moving further away from the affected residents. New guidelines and restrictions have been established for dealing with the dust and noise issues. Given these facts, plus the pending noise survey which Blue Circle will be conducting, staff feel it would be premature to make changes to the By-law at this time. If the survey identifies problems and the proposed changes cannot rectify them, it will then be recommended that the Municipality step in and act to bring about a solution. Respectfully submitted: Reviewed by: Gr~~ eDL~ Franklin Wu Chief Administrative Officer LC/PB/mh , r / I J " ",. . CD-66-98 - 6 - December 7, 1998 INTERESTED PARTIES: Mrs. Valerine Dostie 707 Waverley Road South Bowmanvi lie, Ont. L 1 C 4A8 Mr. Ben Coelen 16 Cedar Crest Beach Road Bowmanville, Ont. L 1 C 3 K3 Blue Circle Cement 400 Waverley Road South Bowmanville,Ont. L 1 C 4A8 Attention: Lynn Davidson, Environmental Manager /16 _CJJa;r;;;;',;;n ONTARIO December 15, 1998 Ms. Valerie Dostie 707 Waverley Road South Bowmanville, Ontario L 1 C 4A8 Dear Ms. Dostie: RE: PROPERTY OWNER'S COMPLAINT REGARDING BLUE CIRCLE CEMENT OUR FILE: E05.BL At a meeting held on December 14, 1998, the Council of the Municipality of Clarington approved recommendation #GPA-636-98: "THA T Report CD-66-98 be tabled to the Counci I meeting scheduled to be held on Monday, February 8, 1999." Yours truly, Marie P. Knight Stanley, CM.a. Deputy Clerk MPKlhj cc: B. Coelen Blue Circle Cement L. Creamer, Sr. Municipal Law Enforcement Officer Ljll- (, ?' 3 .~ -/" ~;' , -- c; / S-~ ':}/7/;:I-/';" '" /' @ CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON 40 TEMPERANCE STREET. BOWMANVILLE .ONTARIO. L1C 3A6. (905) 623.3379. 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