Gravel Extraction Approved

Monday, September 10, 2007 07:15 PM

Area outlined in black is the area that is planned for gravel extraction

Prince George City Council has approved an application for soil removal from a site on the south side of Highway 16 East across from the Prince George Correctional Centre.

The application by Eastway Sand and Gravel Limited to remove gravel from two sections of the property came under the microscope because of the significant slopes in involved. City Staff called in a third party geo technical company which outlined there would need to be further study to ensure gravel removal from the site would not lead to slope erosion and slope failure. Any possible slope failure could impact Highway 16 east, and the hydro transmission lines.

Also of concern the facts that the area is home to ungulates, the noise and dust factors associated with a gravel extraction operation and the negative visual impact of such a facility.

Councilor Brian Skakun wanted to know if there was any issue of air quality as it applies to dust. Dan Milburn, Current Planning Manager says if there were compaints, the City would ask for some changes to the permit and if the changes are not adhered to, stronger action could be taken. Milburn says there are some long term benefits to providing a stable source of aggregate .

President of Eastway Sand and Gravel, Terry Campbell says he is also concerned about dust, and has already made some calls to find a reliable source of calcium to spread on the road leading into and out of the site.

The geo technical engineer for Eastway, Ed Wilson, tried to put to rest the fears of landslide. He says while thesite looks like a landslide, it is not a landslide. This past June, drilling was done and the geology is the same as the highway. "No landslide issues" says Wilson "It was appropriate the City challange because this area had a reputation for landslides" He says driling this past july has shown there is no issue..

According to Wilson, the current slope is at 38 degrees and it has been there for 10 thousand years. Wilson says the landslide that happened in the '80's was the result of construction crews cutting into an unstable slice and that is why there was a slide.

One resident of Gunn Road expressed concern about the hours of operation. Current Planning Manager Dan Milburn says there may be some noise concerns generated by the truck traffic, and the hours of operation would be 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Friday, 9am to 7 p.m on weekends and holidays. If there is to be any crushing, that would be limited to 6a.m.-7 p.m. on weekdays, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.on weekends and holidays. Milburn says the City will be most interested in hearing from residents, and the City will do what it can to minimize any negative impact to local residents.

One resident told Council, "I have two children who catch the bus, and I don't really want to see dump trucks running up and down Gunn Road. Basically, the people on Gunn Road are being told to go commercial or put up with it."

Current Planning Manager Dan Milburn assured Council his department will work with residents and the site operators to work out a suitable permit that will address all concerns.

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Posted on Monday, September 10, 2007 07:15 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Palopu on September 10 2007 8:03 PM

What do we need all this gravel for?????

Posted by: Harbinger on September 10 2007 8:26 PM

An ungulate is a hoofed mammal. Who pulled that word out of a hat?

Posted by: Harbinger on September 10 2007 8:28 PM

Until I looked it up in the dictionary, they could have been boxcar hoboes for all I knew. A new word fer my vocab. Thanks.

Posted by: coastb on September 10 2007 8:40 PM

I saw several elk in that area for the first time ever about a week prior to the CN Rail disaster. Since that time it's been very busy there as they're storing the contaminated soil at the old BCR-CNR interchange. Maybe they'll come back after the gravel is removed...

Posted by: Harbinger on September 10 2007 8:56 PM

An elephant,tapir and rhinos are ungulates. I ain't never seen any of them near the Hilton on the hill.

Posted by: szd on September 10 2007 9:09 PM

If I remember correctly the runway extension needs over 100,000 m3 of gravel. This site is by far the most economical. Oh yes expect an announcement this Friday that funding is all in place and as long as weather holds they will not lose this construction season. Waiting til after port opening to announce.

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on September 10 2007 11:02 PM

Isn't Gunn Road where the city snow dump is located? It's odd that the Gunn Road people didn't mention that there was already lots of trucks running up that road. The gravel trucks don't even use Gunn Road, only the intersection.

Posted by: Chadermando on September 10 2007 11:30 PM

I agree good location for a gravel pit IMO. Even beter would be to see the paving operations relocated out that way if there is gravel available.

Posted by: owl on September 13 2007 7:42 AM

Wait a little while to watch this one. I can just see one of the asphalt companies in town ask to put a plant there which will make it cheaper to produce due to the proximity of the operations.

Then there will be complaints about gravel extraction, traffic, smells, etc. etc.

That will be followed by YDPC saying industry was there first, the people should have known this would happen when they moved in.

All reminds me of a story I read from some northern community recently.

;-)

Posted by: owl on September 13 2007 7:53 AM

It'll be nice coming into town with a gravel extraction open pit mine to look at on one side and the mills on the other side .......

"Wilson says the landslide that happened in the '80's was the result of construction crews cutting into an unstable slice and that is why there was a slide."

No kidding! .... that'll be the reason for the next slide as well .... drilling crews do not poke into the ground in a one metre grid. They take random samples coupled with some geological knowledge of the area.

In downtown Toronto those drilling crews did such sampling around Taddle Creek road. When the apartment building that relied on those tests was contructed up to about 20 storeys and was almost ready to occupy, the building that was about 300 feet long began to subside by probably about a foot near the middle.

The building foundations had found Taddle Creek, something which the geotechnical crew did not find. The Building was declared structurally unsound and it was torn down.

Moral of the story? Beware of soothsayers with big drills.

;-)

Posted by: owl on September 13 2007 8:10 AM

"Milburn says the City will be most interested in hearing from residents, and the City will do what it can to minimize any negative impact to local residents."

Another complaint driven process gets the go ahead.

When will the City put a noise bylaw in place that identifies the levels of noise that are allowed as measured at the property line and are levels which meet the standards set in other civilized communities?