Proposed quarry threatens Manitoba’s bear cub rescue, operator says

Manitoba’s only black bear rescue says a proposed limestone quarry less than a kilometre away from their sanctuary would have devastating effects on the cubs in their care.

Judy Stearns says the sound of constant rock blasting and gravel trucks driving in and out of the site near Stonewall would stress out the orphan cubs, who tend to be anxious anyway.

“There’s not a tree or hill between us,” said Stearns, who runs the rescue with her husband, Roger. “The project is just not conducive to being beside a wildlife sanctuary with noise-sensitive, timid animals.”

The rescue and rehabilitation centre has been in the RM of Rockwood, located northwest of Winnipeg, since 2018, but the Stearns family has lived in the municipality for more than 20 years.

At any given time, the rescue can have up to 30 bear cubs. The rescue works with the provincial government to rehabilitate orphaned black bear cubs and release them back into the wild.

The RM is reviewing an application for a 370-acre limestone quarry extraction zone in the municipality. The project is located about two kilometres from the northwestern boundary of the town of Stonewall.

A public hearing on the project is scheduled at the Stony Mountain Community Centre on March 19 at 6 p.m. A petition opposing the project has been making its rounds in Rockwood; it needs 300 signatures before Monday night to be submitted as an official objection.

Stearns worries about the dust from the rock blasting landing on her property and contaminating her cubs’ food supply. The project also runs the risk of fracturing the area’s aquifer, affecting the municipality’s water supply, she said.

“It would put our black bear rescue, the province’s only safety net for orphaned cubs in the province, in jeopardy,” Stearns said. “It’s not like a business, we have enclosures and are all set up. We can’t just pack up and move.”

In the past, when there’s rock blasting at a quarry that’s about five kilometres away from her home, her windows shake and the cubs flee to their enclosures.

The new project’s planned rock blasting would be permitted to occur Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

A study from the National Institutes of Health in the U.S. shows quarry operations can displace wildlife and affect the surrounding environment.

The project owner, Amrize Canada Inc., said the project will comply with all municipal and provincial regulations, including environmental and setback requirements. The initial extraction area is approximately two kilometres from the nearby black bear rescue centre, and the haul route is “intentionally designed to avoid the facility.”

A provincial technical review of the proposal shows most government departments have no concerns about the project. The transportation and infrastructure department asked the company to submit a truck haul route for review and approved owing to the increased traffic the project would bring to the area.

The hydrologic forecasting and water management branch flagged a nearby creek drain that is designated provincial water infrastructure. A permit to do work around it must be approved before the project begins.

Curtis McClintock, a councillor for the RM of Rockwood, said he has received several emails and calls from residents and he has encouraged them to register to speak at Thursday’s public hearing.

McClintock wouldn’t say where he stand on the project.

“I’m just gonna kind of listen to what our residents’ concerns are,” he said. “That’s what the public hearing is all about. So we’ll just listen to our ratepayers and we’ll make a decision, and ultimately go from there.”

RM staff weren’t able to say how many people have registered to speak about the proposal.

Stearns says she plans to speak against the proposal at the meeting.

From her perspective as a resident, Stearns says the region is no longer a quarry area. She says the development is at odds with a huge residential expansion planned for the bedroom community.

Stonewall annexed about 700 acres of land west of town limits in 2024. In February, the town revealed a it plans to develop about 50 acres of land on the eastern border of the bedroom community, which will include a 44,000-square-foot commercial space and 500 mixed-use housing units.

Stonewall Mayor Sandra Smith did not respond to a request for comment.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca