News Pits & Quarries
Group concerned proposed quarry will harm endangered turtles

A group of self-described ‘northern hicks’ on Lake Huron is trying to stop a quarry on The North Shore, Ont. – about halfway between Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury – that could harm endangered Blanding’s turtles, one example of a wider provincial dispute over aggregate extraction

Darien Aggregates, the company proposing the quarry, and its majority owner, Rankin Construction, contend this site is unique. If approved by the Ontario government, it would produce trap rock, a harder-to-find substance good for highway construction as vehicles are less likely to skid on it than other paving materials. Rankin Construction CEO Tom Rankin said in an email the company has worked to be sustainable and improve the environment.

Rankin Construction has also said the project will create up to 25 jobs in the community, which had a population of less than 500 people as of the 2016 census.

(The Narwhal)