Questions about quarries: higher standards wanted for aggregate pits.

• Author: Migneault, Jonathan

Anew organization hopes to create a voluntary certification standard for Ontario's often contentious aggregates industry by the summer The Cornerstone Standards Council held its first public session in Sudbury, Jan. 16, to receive feedback from the industry, environmental organizations and community members.

In southern Ontario, battles over aggregate sites, the environmental concerns they raise, and the impact on communities - ranging from an increase in traffic from large trucks to noise - have gone to the Ontario Municipal Board, where a lot of time and money is exhausted before the issues are resolved.

Nicholas Schulz, the Cornerstone Standards Council's director of outreach, said voluntary certification for the industry could help reduce conflict between operators and communities.

Municipalities, could, in theory, only approve sites that meet the Cornerstone Standards Council's certification standards. "There's a competitive advantage," Schulz said. "They (municipalities and private pin-chasers) said early on they would prefer operators that are certified."

To be certified, companies would have to pay for an audit - which can be quite expensive - that would ensure they comply with a list of principles that range from proper community consultation regarding a new site to respect for Aboriginal peoples' rights and cultures.

Certification, which would be issued on a site-by-site basis, would last for 10 years. Each site would be audited a second time, about five years after the initial approval, to ensure compliance with the standards.

The Cornerstone Standards Council's 106-page draft standards include seven principles - each with a number of core requirements.

Core requirement 2.2, for example, stipulates how operators should engage with community stakeholders before they begin work on a new site. To comply - with the current draft version at least - operators will have to make information already shared with public agencies available through a publicly available website."

A company would have to meet all the core requirements to be certified, but could be given leeway if small changes are necessary, with the caveat that it be compliant after a second audit.

The Cornerstone Standards Council started a 60-day consultation on Jan. 6 in order to amend its draft standards with community and industry feedback.

The draft was created with the input from aggregate industry representatives and environmental organizations.

The council's board...