Setting the Record Straight on Aggregate
Where it’s used, annual volume used and licensing requirements
by: Warren Heeley
Aggregate. Ontarians simply cannot live without it. Aggregate, or stone, sand and gravel, touches almost every aspect of our lives in one way or another. We all use or come in touch with aggregate every day whether it is the roads we drive on or the homes we live in. Consider this: you can step on to your front porch, look around, and find more than 20 uses of aggregate all around you.
A hundred years ago when a new road needed to be built, or a new housing development was planned, a local deposit of aggregate would be found to supply the sand, stone and gravel for roads, buildings and other infrastructure. These materials were mined at the site and transported a short distance to where it was needed. When the job was done, the site where the aggregate was produced would simply be left to eventually be rehabilitated by native plants and trees.
Today, the Aggregate Resources Act (ARA) stands at the heart of a sophisticated, and rigorous legislative and policy framework that sets stringent requirements that must be met before aggregate licences are issued. The act and its accompanying regulations, policies and standards govern aggregate pits and quarries on both private and provincial land. The jurisdiction of the ARA, which was originally focused on southern Ontario, has been expanded to now include nearly every area of the province.
According to the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, Graydon Smith, the Ministry “regulates the extraction of aggregates in Ontario. This includes issuing licences and permits, approving amendments to existing sites, and performing compliance activities. The Ministry strives to be responsive to concerns raised by the industry and the general public through inspections, responding to complaints, and ensuring the industry meets requirements for rehabilitating extraction sites. Ontario is built on a foundation of aggregates. The industry is vital to creating a more connected and prosperous province by supplying the resources to build key infrastructure projects and the 1.5 million homes Ontario needs over the next 10 years.
Unfortunately, aggregate production has been the subject of ongoing opposition from various interest groups despite the rigid regulations the industry has to meet and the fact that it is such a vital commodity for so many Ontario necessities.
Below we set the record straight on where aggregate is used, the annual volume of aggregate produced in the province, as well as licensing requirements
What are we doing with all of this aggregate?
Knowing where aggregate is used is difficult for the public to notice because in almost every case aggregates are “hidden” from sight under or within common everyday items such as roads and buildings. People in Ontario literally come in contact with aggregate “every minute of every day”. Whether it’s the windows in homes and office buildings or filtering and purification of water, aggregates play a significant role in the day-to-day lives of Ontarians.
Here is a short list of some of the key uses:
1. Concrete, cement and mortar – the largest percentage of aggregates are used for manufacturing concrete and cement; mortar for bonding bricks and cement blocks also use aggregates
2. Asphalt and roadstone – roads and other pavement uses (e.g., airport runways, school playgrounds, etc.) account for the second largest use of aggregates; unpaved roads and parking areas also use aggregates to create a more stable surface for vehicles in all types of weather
3. Foundations – aggregates are used around building foundations during construction as backfill because it will easily compact as versus soil and creates a solid base for the building that is resilient to the affects of weather.
4. Railway ballast – aggregates provide the bed to support railway tracks and the enormous weight of a loaded train as well as protect the ground around the track and underground structures the tracks pass over. Railway aggregates used are made from tougher stone (e.g., igneous rock) and contain large pieces in the mix.
5. Agriculture – aggregates (particularly limestone) are used in the agricultural sector to increase the lime content of soil for crops and trees that is lost by rainwater leaching and the use of fertilizers.
6. Water filtration, drainage and pipe protection – aggregates are used for water filtration and sewage treatment processes; to drain surface water and protect underground pipes and conduits
7. Whitening agents and fillers – aggregates (particularly limestone) are used to make whitening agents and fillers for a variety of uses including paper, paint, plastics, and cleaning products.
Interestingly enough, people think that the more significant use of aggregate is in urban areas. In fact, the opposite is true. More aggregate is used in the rural areas versus the urban areas on a per capita basis.
How much stone, sand and gravel do we use in Ontario?
In recent years, the annual volume of aggregate extracted from pits and quarries in Ontario has been questioned by interest groups; particularly whether this amount is “really needed”. A look at the actual numbers and the process whereby aggregate requirements are determined annually by producers needs to be examined to sort out this issue.
According to Norm Cheesman, executive director of the Ontario Sand, Stone & Gravel Association (OSSGA), “The average annual production of aggregate in the province over the last number of years has been 164,000 million tonnes. And the amount of aggregate used in Ontario has been – approximately 164,000 million tonnes. What that simply means is that producers match their production to meet the needs of their customers. They only extract what they are able to sell. This is exactly the same as a good baker who only bakes as many loaves of bread as he or she is able to sell.”
Cheesman adds that some of the confusion on this topic stems from the difference between the amount of aggregate taken out of the ground each year (produced) and the amount of land that producers have that has been granted a licence to extract under the ARA.
Aggregate producers need to have many aggregate licences located in various places in across the province for a number of important reasons:
Aggregate only exists where nature put it. Created by glaciers and geological forces over hundreds and thousands of years, the amount of stone, sand and gravel varies significantly across the province. In addition, depending on the formulation of the material, some is very strong, some is not. Going back to our baker example – you can think of it like different types of flour. It takes a variety of products that need to be mixed together to get the right kind of aggregate to build quality buildings. Often that means you take a little pit from one site, a little bit from another site, and blend them together to get the right mix.
Another important factor is that the aggregate has to be close to the project – because from both an economic and environmental point of view, you want to minimize the amount of trucking. You need sites located across the province, and many sites in areas where there is significant growth, like the greater golden horseshoe. Again, no different to a chain of grocery stores – who will have retail outlets across the country.
“Transportation is up to 60% of the cost of aggregates” says Cheesman. “Every extra kilometer aggregate has to be trucked to a jobsite means 2.5 million more litres of fossil fuel are needed annually which creates 6,907 tonnes of GHG.”
The GTA which consumes 40% of the provincial aggregates can be used as a good example. The difference in GHG emissions between long distance trucking (from northern Ontario) as versus close to market trucking in the GTA is significant. Long distance trucking annually requires twice as many trucks (500 versus 250) and generates 3.6 times as much GHG (47 million versus 13 million). It makes sense both economically and environmentally to locate “pits and quarries close to where the aggregate will be used.”
What does all of this mean? According to Cheesman, “A large part of the aggregate business is managing the resources and estimating what the needs of the local users will be over the coming years. Producers take a long term view of the resource they are licensed to produce that extends out 10-20 years.” The public should think of licences as deposits of material that are safeguarding aggregate resources to be used to meet the needs of the next generation of Ontarians. With immigration projections of 500,000 annually and the requirement to build 1.5 million homes over the next decade there’s no question we will need aggregate.
“And remember” says Cheesman, “To meet all of the studies, public consultation, and rigour that goes into getting a licence, it is not uncommon for the process to take as long as ten years.”
For this reason, aggregate in most sites are not extracted from the ground until they are needed. In certain cases, the land containing the aggregate will not be worked by the producer for a number of years. During this time, the producer will make it available for other uses such as agriculture. In other cases, the producer will begin extraction of aggregates because of its quality and a local need for that type of aggregate for projects.
But to be responsible stewards of the resource, it’s important for aggregate producers to ensure there will be material ready for construction projects today – and for projects that will be scheduled 20 years into the future.
The aggregate industry is overseen by ARA, an act and regulation that governs management of this resource province wide. Producers take a responsible approach to managing such an important resource in the province. Every kilogram of aggregate produced annually is used in the many products and projects that require it. Licensing of producers is only part of the process. Looking at the future and planning to meet the needs of a growing population in Ontario is a vital part of their business. This is some of the “straight goods” on aggregates. Be sure to read part two of this article in this issue.
For more information on aggregates go to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry website or the Ontario Sand Stone and Gravel Association (OSSGA) https://www.ossga.com/ .