Rehabilitating Ontario's Pits & Quarries

Liquidating Rehabilitation Deposits: Eliminating the Incentive

In 1999, the Ontario Aggregates Resources Corporation (TOARC), wholly owned by APAO (the gravel lobby), liquidated the security deposits that were used to guarantee rehabilitation of aggregate pits and quarries. The funds in the deposits, about $49,000,000, were given to the pit operators. This was done according to the Aggregate Resources Act, Section 6, at the order of the Ministry of Natural Resources.

The deposits were used as a reward system, to guarantee that operators rehabililitated their pits and quarries. Once the deposits were liquidated, this incentive disappeared.