News Pits & Quarries
Preliminary report nixes idea of review of quarry expansion

A group pushing the province to conduct an environmental review of the expansion of the quarry and foreshore lease at Bamberton, B.C. is facing an uphill climb after a preliminary report from the Environmental Assessment Office recommends the project not be subject to a review.

The draft report, subject of a public comment period until Feb. 14, recommends B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman decline to designate the Bamberton aggregate quarry expansion as a reviewable project.

The Saanich Inlet Protection Society requested the review after the Malahat First Nation applied to expand production and size of an existing quarry on Bamberton lands, extend its dock on the Saanich Inlet, and expand a soil deposit site. The preliminary Environmental Assessment Office report said the dock extension and soil deposit site could not be reviewed, as they are substantially underway, and recommended against reviewing the quarry.

(Times Colonist)