Amid discussion of a new gravel pit proposed for Westside Road, the agent of applicant company Revelstoke Sand & Gravel Ltd (RSG) has written a letter aiming to clear up some facts.
The controversy over gravel pits in Revelstoke stems back to 2010 when Interoute Construction Ltd. (ICL) proposed and went ahead with an expansion from five to 120 acres of the open-pit mine on Westside Road.
At city council’s Aug. 18 meeting, gravel pit opponent Stuart Andrews opposed the proposed new pit in a presentation that cited health risks from crystalline silica dust generated by mining and crushing the aggregate on site. He opposed the location across the river from Columbia Park residences and encouraged council to oppose the proposed development.
The ICL site is a large clear-cut space and residents were concerned about the environmental and exposure to crystalline silica in dust. RSG has faced a similar negative backlash with their intended site on 274 and 322 Westside Road and these concerns were addressed by RSG designated agent Carl Rankin in a letter on August 23.
“Our intended Revelstoke Sand & Gravel Pit has been compared to as being equivalent to the onset of another Interroute Gravel Pit, with all its historical criticisms and current operational anomalies,” Rankin wrote. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”
Rankin outlined a number of differences between the gravel pits including the size. The RSG tenure is to be 20 acres, smaller than the ICL pit’s 42 acres. ICL also can extract 30,000 cubic meters of gravel per year while the RSG anticipates to produce less than 10,000.
Rankin stated that concerns regarding dust will not be an issue at the RSG site, as the area will not be wholly clear cut at any one time and there will be a 200-metre wide buffer of mature trees at the site’s closest boundary point to the Columbia River.
“It is our professional opinion that our proposed RSG operations would never present an external dust problem, and we do not require a dust mitigation protocol,” Rankin wrote. “And to be quite honest, the RSG Pit would not even be visible from any other location, including the Westside Road, (Unless one was 500 feet or more about the valley) and the RSG Pit does not present any concern, whatsoever, for the Revelstoke Golf Course, or any location within the Columbia park residential area.”
At the August 11 city council meeting, councillors deferred the requested development permit for more information on environmental concerns. It is now again on the agenda for the September 8 meeting.
The property is owned by the province and although the permit for extraction of sand and gravel is within the jurisdiction of the province, the city can provide input to the province for their consideration during the application review process.
Councillors will debate the recommendation that RSG be issued the development permit once they have met the terms, which include biologist’s report on the property’s water features.
Furthermore, they will ask that the province request to include the following conditions if the extraction permit is approved:
-A dust management plan that identifies potential sources of dust and methods of mitigation and control;
-A study be prepared to determine the amount of crystalline silica, if any, that would be produced and mitigation measures to be taken to address any potential public health implications;
-A noise control plan to identify potential noise sources and methods to limit and contain noise; and
-Limitations on hours of operation to between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday; and
-A remediation plan to be implemented following completion of site extraction.
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New gravel pit proposed for Westside Road
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