2006 Annual Report

Message from Chair - Environmental Defence - The Proponent - The Application - The Case - Natural Environment - Transportation - Community - Hydrogeology - Financials - Public Activity Report - References - Volunteer Committee

Message from the Chair

Dear Neighbour,

As we enter our fourth year of opposing the application to develop an open pit mine in the heart of our Communities, our message and our concerns have not changed. No reasonable person would allow Canada's 8th largest quarry by production volume to be located here. In addition, we believe that appropriate application of the existing laws and regulations will support that claim.<

2006 was an interesting year for our fight. We started the year with a tremendous show of united opposition. The springtime public meetings held in Hamilton and Halton were very well attended. Thank You! In fact, it might have been our overwhelming show of opposition that drove Lowndes Holdings Corp. to sell. We will never know for sure. However, in June they did sell and now St Marys Cement CBM owns the property.

St Marys is a well known name in the aggregate industry and is in fact owned by a Brazilian conglomerate with operations across the globe. Nevertheless, the facts of the situation remain the same. Our case is no less strong simply because the opposition has gotten bigger. All that has changed is the name on the gate. The proposed development has remained the same and so has our opposition to it.

For example, we continue to demonstrate with science that the quarry could present a significant threat to the quality and quantity of our groundwater. At both levels of government, MPPs and City Councillors understand our concern - we drink the water from our local aquifer.

This Annual Report is intended to give you a summary of last year's activities. We trust that you will find hope in the progress we continue to make. This process is taking a very long time to resolve, longer I am sure than many of us would like, but we need to stay the course, and not give up. There is not a single one of us who has the time, talent, or financial resources to oppose this application on our own. Our strength comes from pooling those resources. We can, and we are, winning this fight.

Together We Will Succeed!

Graham Flint,
FORCE Chairperson