Several Bearspaw residents living close to gravel pits shared concern about dust, noise and traffic with Rocky View County councillors at an Infrastructure and Operations meeting, Nov. 15.
The presentation, led by longtime resident Mike Edwards, was organized by County staff as part of a series of talks regarding the gravel industry, intended to educate councillors.
Gianna Bloomer, who has lived in Bearspaw for 11 years, spoke out against locating gravel operations beside residential communities, citing traffic safety and pollution as key concerns.
“Why are we developing... residential areas next to gravel pits?” she said. “You eat it, you breathe it, you drive by it. You are living gravel and I don’t want to live gravel.”
A presentation was held in June and featured Alberta Environment representatives who spoke about the department’s regulatory role. Industry provided the second presentation in September, arguing that there is a need for more gravel close to market.
Edwards’ discussion focused on the history of gravel operations in Bearspaw as well as the concerns residents in close proximity to the pits share.
Several concerns were highlighted, including air quality, noise, increased traffic, loss of property value and a general decrease in quality of life for those living near gravel pits.
“It won’t be palatable where I live,” said Edwards when asked if residents and gravel operations can coexist.
Edwards lives in Crestview Estates, near lands owned by a gravel company. He, along with a number of local residents, has been battling gravel proposals in the community since 1992.
In that time, Edwards has spoken out against several applications and was instrumental in getting 1,631 citizens to sign an open letter regarding set back distances between existing residential and new gravel proposals.
In 1995, he was a leader of a campaign that saw citizens gather 2,500 signatures, to overturn a County decision in favour of a gravel operator. The County called for a referendum, but Burnco appealed the citizen vote in court and were overruled, but later won in an appeal.
Last year, Rocky View councillors rejected an application made by gravel company Inland, which proposed to abut the pit’s boundary to a berm placed on Crestview’s property line. However, Edwards said several residents are concerned the pit will eventually get approval.
Thirty-year resident Ken McKerracher also spoke out against the pits, saying he is tired of fighting the industry.
“When we moved out there, things were tranquil,” he said. “We don’t have the quality of life we used to. It is not my mission in life to fight gravel pits, it is not my favourite thing to do.”
During his presentation, Edwards shared a map, put out by the then Alberta Research Council, which highlighted a number of gravel deposits between Cochrane and Calgary’s northwest.
There are more than 2,900 acres currently dedicated to gravel extraction in the Bearspaw area, with seven companies involved.
Most of those pits are located within the City of Calgary’s borders.
