June 14, 2012, Mississauga, ON - A study being released by the Ontario Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (OSSGA) shows that rehabilitated aggregate sites are being successfully integrated into their communities and surrounding landscapes once rehabilitation has been completed.

Launched in the summer of 2010, the “Study of Rehabilitation in Ontario: 1979-2009” is the first study of its kind to offer a comprehensive assessment of the state of rehabilitated aggregate properties in Ontario.

“Aggregate extraction has become controversial in recent years, especially since there’s been very little information available about rehabilitated aggregate sites in the province,” says OSSGA CEO Moreen Miller. “As a result, we’ve had no accurate, objective data to either praise or criticize how former aggregate sites have been rehabilitated.”

A team of planners and ecologists was retained by the OSSGA to review 337 sites that had been licensed pits and quarries. These sites were fully extracted and rehabilitated to new land uses in the Oak Ridges Moraine Plan Area, Niagara Escarpment Plan Area, Greenbelt Plan Area, Lake Simcoe Protection Plan Area, as well as Metropolitan Toronto and the City of Ottawa.

Field visits produced vital data on each property in the study, including amount of tree coverage and native vegetation, as well as current site use, surrounding land uses and municipal zoning.

Among the findings was that the land uses of the sites are natural (32%), residential (15%), recreational (13%), water (11%), open space (11%), with other occurrences of industrial, commercial institutional and other land uses. There is approximately 17 per cent tree coverage on the sites across the entire study area, with an estimated 66 per cent of plant life being vegetation that is native to Ontario.

“Aggregate extraction is a common land use in Ontario, and the study data shows that former aggregate sites can be successfully integrated into their surrounding environments after extraction operations are completed,” the report states. “The data also demonstrated that rehabilitated sites tend to be compatible with surrounding land uses, and that aggregate extraction is a temporary land use.”

“By outlining how rehabilitated sites interact with their surrounding environment, this study and its subsequent phases will help decision-makers with future land-use planning issues and successful land rehabilitation techniques to benefit neighbouring communities,” Miller says. “Identifying important rehabilitation trends will also promote good and responsible property rehabilitation in Ontario.”

Essential materials for building a strong Ontario

The study’s recommendations include improving the standards for data collection, working to develop best practices for rehabilitation and studying all rehabilitated sites in the province. Other recommendations include developing best practices for managing the natural succession process through which ecosystems develop, and measuring the ecological success of rehabilitation objectives.

The Ontario Stone, Sand & Gravel Association is a non-profit industry association representing 103 producers of sand, gravel, and crushed stone in the province of Ontario, along with 157 suppliers of aggregate industry products and services.

OSSGA promotes the wise management of Ontario’s aggregate resources in a manner that is conducive to conserving the natural and social environment, while maintaining a healthy and competitive aggregate industry.

For more information, or for a copy of the report, contact the Ontario Stone, Sand, and Gravel Association at 905-507-0711.