THANK GOD FOR CBC!!!! WHERE'S THE FINAL SENATE REPORT OF THE IRVING GERMANY MONOPOLY IN NEW BRUNSWICK????

Irving quarry gets green light for Memramcook
Last updated Jun 1 2006 10:19 AM ADT
CBC News
The New Brunswick government has given an Irving company permission to open a gravel pit in Memramcook, despite opposition from hundreds of nearby residents.

Dump trucks using the two existing quarries already rumble through the Memramcook Valley near Moncton, spreading clouds of grey dust on nearby trees and homes. The Irving-owned quarry will become the third gravel pit to operate in the community.

FROM FEB. 16, 2006: Memramcook residents fight Irving quarry
Yoland Leblanc lives near the new site, and says the community doesn't want another quarry.

"The arrogance of the government to go ahead and create this new quarry," she said. "That's going to add to the problems that the other two are already causing."

Leblanc says the provincial environment department has ignored the advice of the local planning commission, which asked that a health study be completed before the quarry opens.

Environment spokesman Gary Mersereau said the planning commission doesn't usually advise on health issues, and his department issued the permit based on other criteria.

"Generally, a planning commission gives us recommendations as it relates to property, you know, land and structures, and that's what we focus on," Mersereau said.

In response, a citizens' committee has collected 1,100 signatures on a petition asking the province to solve the pollution problems.

"They have not produced a win-win situation," said committee head Paul Doucet.

"The Irvings have got what they want, but we're left with the problem."

Memramcook residents fight Irving quarry
Last updated Feb 16 2006 08:51 AM AST
CBC News
About 150 people turned up at a meeting of the Beaubassin Planning Commission Wednesday night to fight a quarry that J.D. Irving has proposed for the Memramcook Valley.

Two quarries are already operating in the Memramcook Valley. Catherine Cormier used to live next door to one of them. She walked four to five kilometres a day in her community. She died of cancer in her sinuses when she was only 50.

Her sister, Juanita Cormier believes the quarry dust contributed to her health problems. "She was inhaling all the dust and everything that's coming out from those quarries. She was walking for health reasons and to be in shape and be healthy and in the long run, that's probably what killed her."

A subsidiary of J.D. Irving hopes to bring another quarry to the area but more than 1,000 people have signed a petition against it.

Company spokesperson Geoff Britt told the planning commission that his company's quarry would be different. "A lot of the issues that we've heard are really based on the reality of these existing quarries in this community. And we have said, the way we operate our quarries has nothing to do with the reality of what the people here have experienced. We can raise the bar."

The Beaubassin Planning Commission was supposed make a recommendation on the project. The province would then make the final decision.

The commission decided it needs more time to review all the information. It will discuss the options over the next few weeks, and then hold another public meeting.


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