Adverse Effects: Thirteen Homeowners Near A Blasting Quarry Bought Out By Quarry Owner

In Ontario, a blasting quarry operation, once established, is allowed to effectively operate indefinitely, as a licence to permit aggregate extraction has no expiry date. Once established, the prospect of terminating a quarry operator’s licence is virtually non-existent, regardless of the nature or number of site plan and quarry violations or adverse impacts (e.g., flyrock, noise, toxic fumes, fugitive dust, vibrations, drain or damage domestic wells), all due to a lack of effective government oversight (e.g., government staff shortage exacerbated by allowing self-reporting of the aggregate industry). Before a blasting or non-blasting quarry operation is permitted, the owner of the quarry should be compelled to purchase potentially impacted properties, provided that in doing so the environmental impact is reduced to a “trivial” level and the surrounding community is not destabilized. Otherwise, once a quarry is operational, the only remedy available to the municipality and impacted property owners is to launch a civil action at considerable time and expense, a process that can drag on for years with no guarantee of success. Sometimes, a quarry operator will voluntarily commit to purchase adversely impacted properties, but sometimes the acquisitions are undertaken surreptitiously, and require the property owner to sign a non-disclosure agreement. This case study pertains to a number of adversely effected homeowners whose homes were bought out by the owners of the Acton Quarry in Halton Hills, Ontario. They concealed their true identity through the use of numbered companies and one with the delightful sounding name (Snowfarm Ltd.) when purchasing the houses and in the process destabilized the community.

在安大略省，爆破采石场一经设立即可无限期合规运营，因其砂石骨料开采许可并无有效期。采石场设立后，无论场地规划与采石作业存在何种性质、多少数量的违规行为，抑或是造成了何种负面影响（如飞石（flyrock）、噪声、有毒烟气、无组织扬尘（fugitive dust）、振动、枯竭或损毁家用井等），终止采石场经营者许可的可能性几乎为零。这一现状源于政府监管缺位——例如允许砂石骨料行业（aggregate industry）自主申报的规定，进一步加剧了政府人员编制短缺的问题。
在爆破或非爆破采石作业获批前，采石场所有者应被强制收购受潜在影响的不动产，前提是此举需将环境影响降至“微不足道”的水平，且不会对周边社区的稳定造成破坏。若未满足上述条件，采石场投入运营后，市政当局与受影响不动产所有者可采取的唯一救济途径便是提起民事诉讼（civil action），但此举需耗费大量时间与资金，且整个程序可能迁延数年，最终结果仍无保障。
部分情况下，采石场经营者会主动承诺收购受负面影响的不动产，但有时收购行为会暗中进行，且要求不动产所有者签署保密协议（non-disclosure agreement）。
本案例研究涉及安大略省荷顿山地区阿克顿采石场的所有者收购的多位受负面影响的房主。收购过程中，收购方通过使用编号式公司及一家名称悦耳的公司（雪农场有限公司（Snowfarm Ltd.））隐瞒真实身份，此举最终破坏了当地社区的稳定。