Dear Editor, Although Coun. Al Schulz may be tired of dealing with Rocky View County’s (RVC) three-year-old draft Aggregate Resource Plan, unless this deficient plan has broad public support, gravel pits will continue to rile people and haunt this council. Will revising its Terms of Reference be enough to make the plan work? While the draft plan does recognize environmental responsibilities, it probably cannot apply retroactively to gravel mines with some level of approval. The partly approved Lafarge mine, proposed between Range Road 40 and Highway 567, lies on the very aquifer of the nationally significant Big Hill Springs. These springs feed Bighill Creek with a year-around consistent flow of the highest quality water, water that historically sustained Cochrane's earliest creamery and fish hatchery. Today, these springs sustain the tiny but very popular Big Hill Springs Provincial Park. Mining their aquifer could destroy them. Could a revamped Terms of Reference be enough to allow RVC councillors to rethink their environmental responsibilities for the Lafarge mine and two other mines under consideration immediately adjacent to Lafarge? What is the value of gravel compared with a nationally significant set of springs and a provincial park? Can a new Terms of Reference save our springs and our park? Or do we just need a council with an environmental conscience? Vivian Pharis Cochrane
