One year later, no decision on Gilley’s Quarry expansion

A plan to dig an extra 500,000 tonnes of rock out of a Coquitlam-area quarry is still just a plan.

Heidelberg Materials, formerly Lehigh, is currently permitted to dig out 1,000,000 tonnes of rock from Gilley’s Quarry each year. The company previously applied to raise that threshold to 1,500,000 tonnes and expand the quarry area by 11.58 hectares.

More than one year later, a decision has yet to be made, according to the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation.

“The application is still undergoing technical review and consultation with potentially impacted First Nations,” a ministry representative stated. The representative did not state when a final decision would likely be made.

Located on both private and Crown Land between Pitt River and Pinecone Burke Provincial Park, Quarry Road is frequently the site of close-calls and near misses involving trucks and industrial equipment, resident Renato Spano warned Coquitlam council last year.

At the current pace, the quarry will be hollowed out in less than three years. However, the expansion would allow for the extraction of about 13.6 million tonnes of rock, according to Heidelberg Materials’ application to the province.

The multinational company is also applying for permission to wash rock on site, creating settling ponds from the quarry floor.

The quarry produces, drain rock, riprap and road base aggregates, according to the company’s application.