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May
28 , 2003
STOP EXPRESSWAY CONSTRUCTION UNTIL PROPER PERMITS IN PLACE:
Environmental groups call for intervention of province's
Escarpment Commission
The
City of Hamilton's efforts to fast-track construction of
the Red Hill Creek Expressway may be about to hit another
roadblock. Just a few weeks after the City's failed attempt
to avoid the procedural rules of the National Energy Board
came to light, another key regulator — the Niagara
Escarpment Commission (NEC) — is being called upon
to subject the controversial expressway to its rules for
development on the Escarpment.
Today,
two environmental groups — Friends of Red Hill Valley
and the Coalition on the Niagara Escarpment (CONE) - wrote
to the NEC asking it to issue a stop work order under the
province's Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act
against any construction work in the portion of the Red
Hill Valley that lies within NEC jurisdiction until such
time as the City has applied for and received a new Development
Permit.
The
two environmental groups decided to take this action after
the City failed to heed repeated warnings that a new NEC
Development Permit was needed for work in the Valley that
the City proposes to begin this summer.
"The
NEC has used its legislative power to step in and stop a
private landowner from building a pig farm and another from
digging a pond without permits — surely they will hold
the City of Hamilton to the same standard for a massive
expressway through the face of the Escarpment," said
Jason Thorne, Executive Director of the Coalition on the
Niagara Escarpment (CONE), a watchdog group that has been
monitoring development on the Escarpment since 1978.
In
their letter, the environmental groups site several instances
dating back to 1996 where the NEC has informed the City
that a new Escarpment Development Permit is needed. The
most recent instance was a letter dated December 10, 2002
from the NEC to the City of Hamilton which was obtained
by a member of Friends of Red Hill Valley using the City
of Hamilton's Freedom of Information process.
"The
City of Hamilton has had enough warnings going back seven
years now. It is time for the NEC to stand behind its own
policies and demand that the City apply for an Escarpment
Development Permit. And they should use their power to order
a stop to construction until that has happened," said
Thorne.
The
City is relying on a 1987 permit that the NEC was ordered
to provide by the 1985 Consolidated Joint Board decision.
But very substantial changes have been made to the expressway
project since the 1987 NEC permit was granted, especially
within the 50% of the valley that is under the jurisdiction
of the NEC. The escarpment crossing has been completely
re-designed and now includes an 80-metre-wide cut in the
face of the escarpment, a 220-metre viaduct, and a reconfigured
Greenhill Avenue interchange. In addition, the City's plans
now call for major additional disruptions to the valley
lands that were not even contemplated in 1987. These include
the relocation of virtually all of Red Hill Creek, as well
as the construction of five stormwater ponds and a large
temporary flood zone.
The
December 2002 letter is not the first time that the NEC
has warned the City that a new Development Permit is required
for the current design for the expressway. The NEC informed
the City back in 1996 that this was its position. In 1997,
the provincial Cabinet made the securement of a new Escarpment
Development Permit one of the conditions of the Cabinet
order that exempted the Expressway from the province's Environmental
Assessment Act.
The
December 2002 letter indicates that the NEC has not changed
its position since 1996.
While
an application for a Development Permit may not ultimately
halt the Expressway, CONE and Friends of Red Hill Valley
contend that fairness demands that the City follow the proper
NEC process.
"No one is above the law and it is up to the NEC to
remind the City of that," said Thorne.
The
missing Niagara Escarpment permit is just one of a long
list of outstanding approvals that the City still requires
for the expressway project. Despite this, City Council has
approved initiation of construction.
"In
its attempts to start construction without all approvals
in place, the City is making a mockery of the laws and policies
built up over the years to protect our environment. The
City's behaviour is shameful," said Don McLean, chair
of Friends of Red Hill Valley.
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For more information please contact:
Jason Thorne, Executive Director
Coalition on the Niagara Escarpment
P: (519) 853-4955
Cell: (416) 892-4861
Web: www.niagaraescarpment.org
Don
McLean, Chair
Friends of Red Hill Valley
P: (905) 664-8796
Copies
of the letter
from CONE and FRHV to the NEC requesting the stop work
order will be supplied by CONE upon request.
Copies
of the December 10, 2002 letter
from the NEC to the City of Hamilton and the City's
response are available from FRHV upon request.
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