July 25, 2018

The Honourable Rod Phillips, MPP

Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks
Ferguson Block
11th Floor, 77 Wellesley Street West
Toronto, ON M7A 2T5

RE: Peer Review of Studies Relating to the Meridian Quarry in Burlington

Dear Minister Phillips,

Please accept our congratulations on your election as the MPP for Ajax, and your appointment
as Minister of Environment, Conservation and Parks.

As you may be aware, the City of Burlington is home to the Meridian Quarry, which is licensed,
(ARA license #5500) under the Aggregate Resources Act since 1972. The site is located east of
King Road and west of Westhaven Drive.

The quarry consists of the west, central and east cells. In 2015, the City was notified by
Meridian, (Forterra at the time) of its intention to start preparing the east quarry. The west quarry
has been exhausted and the centre quarry is approaching the end of extraction. Meridian has
also made public its intent to extend extraction to the east quarry, which is in close proximity to
the Tyandaga residential neighbourhood. As you can appreciate, many area residents have
concerns.

Under the decades old license for this site, there are no requirements for Meridian to carry out
air quality and noise measurements for their west and central quarries. That said, Meridian has
conducted various studies including recent dust and noise measurements. These studies were
made public in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Earlier this year, the predecessor to the new Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks,
(MOECP) initiated a peer review of the Meridian noise and dust studies. The resultant
comments have been provided to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, (MNRF).

We understand that the MOECP and the MNRF have responsibilities relating to aggregate
operations, and that air and noise studies, (and peer reviews of same) are under the jurisdiction
of the MOECP.

Unfortunately, despite numerous requests from elected officials, the Tyandaga Environmental
Coalition and local stakeholders, the results of MOECP’s review has not been made public. In
fact, a senior political staffer in the previous government advised that results of the MOECP’s
review would not be made public until at least the Fall of 2018.
As the MPP for Burlington, and as the Mayor of Burlington, it is our shared view that the peer
reviews conducted by the MOECP relating to the Meridian Quarry should be released without
further delay. We respectfully request your assistance in arranging for the immediate public
release of these reviews.

In addition, we also request for the commencement of regular inspections of the quarry for
compliance under the Aggregate Resources Act (ARA). It is our understanding that the last
inspection took place on July 23, 2015.

If you require any further information please contact my Constituency Office at 905.639.7924 or
email jane.mckenna@pc.ola.org, or the office of Mayor Rick Goldring at 905.335.7607 or email
rick.goldring@burlington.ca.

We appreciate your consideration and timely response.

Sincerely,

Jane McKenna Rick Goldring

MPP, Burlington Mayor, Burlington

JMM/kja

CC: Hon. Jeff Yurek, Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry

Jack Hewitt, Project and Environmental Manager, Meridian Brick
Rob Campolo, Area Operations Manager, Meridian Brick
Fran Fendelet, Co-Chair, Tyandaga Environmental Coalition Inc.
Councillor Rick Craven, Ward 1, City of Burlington
Councillor Marianne Meed-Ward, Ward 2, City of Burlington
Councillor John Taylor, Ward 3, City of Burlington
Councillor Jack Dennison, Ward 4, City of Burlington
Councillor Paul Sharman, Ward 5, City of Burlington
Councillor Blair Lancaster, Ward 6, City of Burlington