[Symz]

Holy mackeral! Check out this article talking about how the parkway project managers are talking about how they need to dump 100,000 trucks of dirt in an area of Tecumseh during the project. That's a lot of dirt!!

source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windso...x-parkway.html

Parkway wants to dump 100K trucks of dirt in Tecumseh

Tecumseh town council was caught off guard Tuesday night by a request from the Windsor-Essex Parkway.

Officials with the massive infrastructure project want permission to dump a lot of dirt on land in the town.

They requested to dump 100,000 truckloads — that's 1.3 million cubic metres — of excess clay material on a site just south of Highway 3 near the Oldcastle Sideroad.

Three parcels of land are being acquired and consolidated by the parkway. The area covers almost 60 hectares.

Once the road to a new border crossing is built, the dump site would be landscaped and turned into a park for the town.

Mayor Gary McNamara said council put the brakes on giving its permission.

He said there are too many unanswered questions and people living nearby are concerned.

"This is Class 1 farmland. What impact is it going to have in the general area? Who's going to maintain that legacy of that park? How are we going to deal with wildlife in that area?" the mayor said.

McNamara said meetings with all the partners, including the neighbours, the county, the conservation authority and province will be held to get answers to the concerns before council makes a final decision.

"There are so many unanswered questions that, in good conscience, council can't make that particular decision. We need some research," the mayor said.

We never seem worried about building strip malls and big box stores on 'Class 1 farmland'.

I think if they use the dirt and build a ski hill that would be fantastic. I have no idea if that's enough dirt to do the job or not, but it sounds like they plan on doing something slightly different with the dirt. Either way, it sounds like a lot of dirt.

A similar story from The Windsor Star

source: http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Tecu...239/story.html

Tecumseh balks at plans for Windsor-Essex Parkway dirt

TECUMSEH, Ont. -- The Ontario Ministry of Transportation never had a plan for how it would dispose of 1.3 million cubic metres of clay from the Windsor-Essex Parkway and instead relied on the excavator contractor to solve the problem at the last minute, the company said Tuesday.

Cindy Prince, vice-president of development for Amico, told Tecumseh council that she was surprised the province never planned for disposal of the dirt. Amico realized early last year that it was supposed to find fill sites for the clay.

"It was a conscious decision by the MTO to let the (successful bidder) solve the issue," she said.

More than 3.9 million cubic metres of soil will be unearthed to dig the six-lane, below-grade parkway. Half of the earth will be used to build embankments and drains, while another 250,000 cubic metres is going to the closed Maidstone landfill. Parkway officials need to find a fill site soon and proposed Tuesday using 146 acres of farmland off Highway 3 in Oldcastle.

For three years 100,000 trucks will travel from Walker Road, east along Highway 3 to the trailhead of the Chrysler Greenway, go south along a farm road, dump dirt and then travel along the rear of the property west back to Walker Road. The site was partially chosen because it's less than two kilometres from parkway construction.

Prince called the dump site a gift rather than a burden and an opportunity for the town because after the hauling is done it will be turned into a park.

"We aren't just putting a big pile of dirt and leaving," Prince said. "We'll help develop a park."

Councillors balked at being told at the last minute they needed to approve zoning changes so that prime agricultural land could be converted to accommodate mounds of dirt.

"Asking us to approve anything tonight is a pipe dream," Coun. Rita Ossington said.

Deputy Mayor Cheryl Hardcastle complained that Prince's presentation made it appear the dump site was a done deal.

"What do we get to approve and what is being shoved down our throats?" Hardcastle said. "Are we a rubber stamp or can we refuse this?"

Larry Rau owns a horse farm immediately east of the proposed fill site. His training track is not far from where the trucks would rumble down a farm road. Rau said he likes the peace and quiet of his property and is too old to live through three years of dust and noise disruption.

"Every Saturday my grandkids and I ride our bikes around the training track," he said. "They don't have to worry about cars. We go to the back bush and listen to the birds and frogs."

Rau said he fears his peaceful way of life will be disrupted by trucks hauling dirt six days a week.

One young woman who just bought her dream home on Highway 3 broke down crying as she asked how she'll deal with the trucks and dirt with her small children.

Council didn't approve any zoning change Tuesday, so the project can't yet move ahead.

Amico hasn't met with residents yet and plans a public meeting for Monday at the Ciociaro Club.

I took a few minutes to map the location of where all this dirt will be dumped.