Edmonton Group News

Welcome to Edmonton: City of Gravel Mines

City bureaucrat would prefer to squander Edmonton's most precious resource--the natural legacy of our river valley--to save a few bucks on gravel.

The Edmonton Journal, June 21, 2009

Tuesday, city council continues a public hearing on the municipal development plan(MDP)and amendments pursuant. The MDP, updated every 10 years, does not usually make for exciting city politics, but the first hearing attracted an unprecedented level of public interest, with council chambers overflowing. A major citizen concern surrounded preservation of our heritage lands, both agricultural and natural.

At that hearing, former councillor Michael Phair--a strong advocate for natural lands conservation in Edmonton-- proposed an amendment prohibiting resource extraction in the North Saskatchewan River valley and ravine system to preserve its ecological value. Many citizens expressed surprise that mining within our city was even permitted, particularly in the river valley.

Under existing bylaw, mining is not permitted--almost. The North Saskatchewan River Valley Area Redevelopment Plan Bylaw (Section 3.5) states that, "It is a policy of this plan that natural resource extraction industries shall not be developed unless their location within the river valley is deemed essential by council."

Incredibly, the bylaw allows mining our river valley if it is somehow "deemed essential" by city council. It's hard to imagine a situation where mining might be considered essential under a bylaw which states, "It is the policy of this plan to recognize the plan area as containing natural resource areas which will be preserved and enhanced for recreational, scenic, and ecological purposes."

It would never happen?Well then Phair's proposed amendment should be no problem, right? Not quite. The city administration has recommended against it saying, "Prohibiting natural resource extraction in the river valley can be detrimental to city operations, as it would remove access to a readily available supply of aggregate and increase costs for city operations as there would be greater costs for transportation."

It's true. Gravel costs more if it's transported from, say, the Villeneuve Quarry, 20 kilometres west of the city. Apparently, some anonymous city bureaucrat would prefer to squander Edmonton's most precious resource--the natural legacy of our river valley--to save a few bucks on gravel. One wonders if the city might similarly economize through a selective reduction of its bureaucracy.

Council will hopefully elect to include the Phair amendment-- " Prohibit resource extraction within the North Saskatchewan River valley and ravine system to preserve its ecological value." If you care, a note to your councillors urging its adoption might help.

Imagine the potential for branding: "Edmonton, City of gravel mines." Spare us.

Charles F. Richmond, Sierra Club Canada, Prairie Chapter, Edmonton

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