A Langley resident with no background in mining is asking the provincial government to allow him to do some drilling on 111 acres of Crown land in northeast Coquitlam near Minnekhada Regional Park.
John Carley told The Tri-City News he plans to drill on the land north of the park to see if the rock can be extracted for construction projects.
It is his first time requesting an investigative permit from the Ministry of Forest, Lands and Natural Resource Operations, which is seeking public input on the bid until Aug. 29.
Carley, who said he's acting alone on the quarry proposal, said he picked the Crown property at Quarry Road and Calgary Drive "because it's a good location. There's no residential around it and it's kind of tucked away It's not going to be an eyesore."
Carley said he has searched for suitable land for a year and "this one just seemed to fit But we need to do [the testing] first to see if there's something even in there."
According to his pre-development plan, Carley intends to drill in six locations using a small excavator; should the permit be approved, the testing would take up to a month.
A ministry spokesperson said investigative permits are regularly issued to applicants who want to find out if there's a commercial quality of sand or gravel in an area. Such permits are issued for up to two years and give the applicant no interest in the land, he said.
While applicants can drill test holes and conduct other studies, "it is not an exclusive right and has no impact on any member of the public who wants to access the land for personal recreation purposes," the spokesperson said in an email, "nor can it be used by the proponent as a precedent for being granted a tenure for a gravel quarry operation.
"The formal application for tenure for a gravel quarry operation is a separate process."
Carley said he plans to submit a management plan in Phase 2 of the process to address such issues as transportation and environmental impacts. Though his bid states there are no watercourses in the area, city of Coquitlam staff contend there are headwaters for Dairy Creek.
Last Friday, Coquitlam city managers sent a response to the ministry about Carley's proposal. Among their main issues are how the rock would be transported out as the city's official community plan calls for aggregate there to be moved by barge, not road.
"This is a very preliminary investigative program they're proposing at this stage," said Jim McIntyre, Coquitlam's general manager of planning and development, noting the next round of provincial government referrals on the bid would result in a report to council.
Although the Crown land that Carley is eyeing is designated agricultural and resource in the OCP, the city plans to build its biggest Burke Mountain neighbourhood - Partington Creek - directly west of it, a community up to 15,000 more people will call home. As well, the city intends to build the sports fields south of the Crown lands.
Antonio Proietti, president of the Northeast Coquitlam Ratepayers' Association, said the planned quarry location isn't good. "There will be too many people in that area," he said.
To comment on the investigative permit application by the Thursday, Aug. 29 deadline, visit http://www.arfd.gov.bc.ca/ApplicationPosting/index.jsp and type in file #2410903.
