Erin council backs off pit decision

An overflow crowd and a petition with 772 names have forced Erin councillors to delay a controversial gravel pit vote, with the town now seeking a better deal with the pit operator. 

Council decided on Tuesday to defer a decision on whether to recommend that the county allow Halton Crushed Stone (HCS) to expand its existing gravel pit north to County Road 52.

Mayor Allan Alls said CAO Nathan Hyde will meet with the company to explore ways to reduce the impact of the expansion, across the road from the BelErin subdivision. He said the process could take until this fall.

Residents are concerned about noise, dust, traffic and visual appearance, and want a 300-metre setback. Various studies and concessions by HCS have not been sufficient to move the project forward, and the company says it is open to further discussions.

Resident Robyn Johnstone presented a petition urging a No vote, saying the expansion “threatens our families, Erin’s natural appeal and future prosperity.” It says property values would decrease by up to 30 per cent, and that recycling asphalt would release toxic dust. 

“We are not willing to roll the dice when it comes to the health of our children,” said Johnstone.

The expansion would allow gravel extraction above the water table on 150 acres of agricultural land, and storage of up to 60,000 tonnes of recycled asphalt.

County Planning Director Aldo Salis recommended approval, saying the proposal is “in the public interest” and that concerns have been adequately addressed.

The approval process requires an Official Plan change by the county and a further zoning decision by the town. The outcome could be appealed by either side.

Coun. Matt Sammut declared a conflict of interest since his home is near the pit, and he could not vote or participate in the debate.

New efforts to reduce gravel pit impact

New efforts are being made to reduce the impact of Halton Crushed Stone’s proposed gravel pit expansion south of Erin village.

At an April 17 meeting, County Planner Aldo Salis supported the expansion, and HCS offered changes to appease opponents, but council’s debate was cut short when the vote was delayed until May 15.

Councillor Jeff Duncan, who is opposed to the proposal as it now stands, did not get to speak. He says a gravel trade could move the pit farther from nearby homes.

“I propose a significant amount of the gravel deposit that the Town of Erin has under the TenthLine that is part of the application be assigned/traded to HCS as a concession for a significant setback,” he said. He wants no extraction in a triangle measured 300 metres along the roadways.

Possible closure of the Tenth Line in about 20 years to extract town-owned gravel has been discussed, but it would require an additional agreement between the town and the pit operator.

Roy Val, who received a Town of Erin Volunteer Award recently for his research into this and other local growth issues, said he was pleased that HCS had recognized the environmental concerns related to asphalt recycling on the site by agreeing to groundwater monitoring.

“HCS still fails to recognize the impact of a pit across the street from an established subdivision,” he said. “I would hope those residents, in particular, are ready to engage councillors head-on to address the issue of a larger setback prior to the next council meeting.”

HCS has doubled the minimum 30-metre setback, promising not to mine the first 60 metres from the northwest corner of their lands. They also committed to mine the next 95 metres in a two-year period, starting whenever they decide to strip the topsoil.

Duncan’s proposal suggests a two-year limit on a larger area, comprising 50 per cent of the land parcel closest to the subdivision. He also wants the operator to set up a Community Liaison Committee.

The proposal is for mining above the water table, but Duncan wants tighter restrictions, saying HCS could too easily get approval for mining below the water table.

He would also like to see asphalt recycling removed from the land use, or at least temporarily restricted while the Ontario government is developing new policies on this land use.

“Placing 60,000 tonnes of a hazardous material on the floor of a gravel pit could be one of the worst places to put it,” he said. HCS and Salis say the asphalt poses no risk to human health.

Gravel pit operator offers concessions

Halton Crushed Stone (HCS) is offering new concessions in its bid to get town council approval for a gravel pit expansion just south of Erin village.

Councillors deferred their vote on the issue until May 15, after hearing a presentation on April 17 from HCS representative James Parkin.

His offer first came in a letter to council last Friday, just after a report from Wellington County Planning Director Aldo Salis was released, recommending approval of the expansion. The concessions are intended to reduce the impact of the pit on the community, especially nearby residents on McCullogh Dr. and Aspen Court.

Parkin said HCS would complete gravel extraction within two years of topsoil removal in the corner of its property closest to the homes – a pie-shaped zone with a radius of 185 metres from the corner of the urban boundary. It’s not clear exactly when the two years would start, but HSC has planned to mine that area first.

HCS has also agreed to a monitoring program for ground water quality near its asphalt recycling stockpiles, to plant trees immediately on the northern border instead of within one year, to apply calcium chloride annually to suppress dust on the Tenth Line and to clean up any gravel spillage on Road 52.

Coun. Rob Smith said the deferral will be “an opportunity for citizens to chime in” on whether the changes are acceptable.

Salis told council the proposed land use is “appropriate and in the public interest” and conforms to provincial and county policies. The plan to expand the pit north towards County Road 52 has been the subject of technical studies and public meetings over the last two years.

“The applicant has demonstrated that the proposed use can be carried out in a manner that will reduce potential social, economic and environmental impacts,” Salis said.

The expansion would be on 50 acres west of Tenth Line and 100 acres to the east. It includes a 60-metre setback in the northwest corner, one of several changes already made by HCS.

Many residents want a 300-metre setback, even though the land is already zoned for gravel mining. Resident Roy Val said it appears the previous owners of the pit had no intention of mining the northwest corner, and although there is no documentation, that the subdivision may have been approved with that understanding.

Salis said any contaminants from asphalt recycling would be at concentrations well below those of concern to human health. A study found there would be no impact on groundwater or the nearby West Credit River.

The expansion would be on prime agricultural land, but Salis said aggregate extraction is acceptable since the land will eventually be restored to agricultural use – similar to rehabilitated land on the HCS property.

The Town hired WND Associates to review a visual impact study. They said proposed improvements to berm heights plus tree plantings are “adequate” for visual appearance, for screening the pit from second-storey views and for screening views further north on high points of the Tenth Line.

Coun. Matt Sammut has a conflict of interest because his home is near the pit, so he did not participate in the debate or vote. At the March 6 meeting he had Mayor Allan Alls read a statement saying he “will not influence Council or members of the public on the future decision.”

He has registered a notice of objection with the Ministry of Natural Resources to the HCS plan. He said, “I have been advised by both Municipal Affairs and our Integrity Commissioner that I can be an objector as a homeowner while being in conflict as a councillor.”

Changes urged for Erin pit proposal

With town council expected to decide soon on whether to support expansion of the Halton Crushed Stone (HCS) gravel pit just south of Erin village, community members are renewing objections and proposing changes to the project.

A second public meeting was held March 6, with James Parkin of MHBC Planning providing an update on behalf of HCS.

“There has been a good consultation process,” said Parkin, noting that there are no outstanding objections from the Ministry of Natural Resources, Credit Valley Conservation, or the consultants who have peer reviewed HCS studies of hydrogeology, noise, traffic and visual impact.

“The proposal has withstood scrutiny, and we have made changes that are responsive to the community,” he said.

The existing pit west of Tenth Line is 300 metres from the road, but the expansion could bring it to within 30 metres. HCS says it plans a setback of 60 metres in Phase 1, in a radius from the corner closest to the McCullogh subdivision.

Other changes include increased berm heights, tree and shrub plantings along County Road 52, a noise audit, stockpile height limitations, a dust management plan and an annual water level data report to the town.

Residents Sharon Cranstone and Roy Val are urging a setback of 300 metres in the northwest corner. This is not a legal requirement, since the land is already zoned from extraction, but the County Official Plan does specify a 300-metre “yellow ribbon” setback for new zoning around urban areas.

They want the setback increased to 60 metres for the whole length of the pit along County Road 52, an increase of berm height and more extensive tree planting and landscaping. They want HCS to pave the first 300 metres of Tenth Line to reduce dust, and a setback of extraction near the Tenth Line.

They either want extraction in the northwest corner delayed until the final phase of the pit lifespan, to allow the trees to grow into a screen, or to have extraction in that area done first and completed in 18 months.

Cranstone and Val are also concerned about the environmental impact of asphalt being recycled and stored on the site. They want leachate testing and a limit on the volume equal to 10 per cent of exported gravel. HCS says asphalt is not a significant risk.

They also want to know why various provisions in the 1976 Ontario Municipal Board ruling that approved the original pit, and the development agreement that followed, were never enforced.

These include requirements that the pit owner pave a section of Tenth Line; create turning lanes where the Winston Churchill Blvd. haul route meets both County Road 52 and County Road 124, and reconstruct/maintain Winston Churchill to county standards.

David and Caitlin Piva, who live close to the existing pit, said there is a problem with gravel trucks parking on the Tenth Line and using their back-up beepers prior to 6 a.m. They are also concerned about rocks that fall onto the road from loaded trucks, and say that with high stockpiles of gravel in the pit, existing berms are not adequate.

Even though Credit Valley Conservation is predicting the expansion will not affect groundwater, they are still concerned about their well water.

Resident Karen Maxwell said dust from the pit on local properties remains an ongoing problem. She also reminded council that the 1976 OMB ruling approved the original pit with an assumption that extraction would take place prior to construction of a nearby subdivision.

Councillor Matt Sammut did not attend the meeting, and has declared a conflict of interest since his residence is in that subdivision.

Meeting on Erin gravel pit expansion

A public meeting will be held at Town Hall on March 6, at 6:30 p.m., to provide updated information from the county planning department on the proposal to expand the Halton Crushed Stone gravel pit just south of Erin village.

Some residents of Aspen Court and the surrounding area have been urging town council to oppose the plan, or to obtain concessions from the company to reduce the impact of noise, water runoff, dust, traffic and visual appearance.

The current pit is set back 300 metres from County Road 52. The proposed 140-acre expansion of the extraction area would bring it closer (on both sides of Tenth Line), with the company offering to make the setback 60 metres instead of 30 metres.

Residents have posed a long list of questions to the company and the town. There remains uncertainty about why housing was allowed next to lands zoned for gravel extraction, and why the previous pit owners did not extract closer to the homes.

The current projection is to complete excavation in the area closest to the subdivision within five years, based on a rate of 400,000 tonnes per year, but HCS is not agreeing to any firm deadlines.

Other issues include the recycling and stockpiling of old asphalt and concrete on the site and the parking of trucks on the Tenth Line.

HCS proposes to reduce stockpile heights and increase berm heights, and to plant a mix of coniferous trees and shrubs. They will move the main processing area to 1.2 km from the subdivision and have agreed to some changes in the hours of operation. They are using strobe lights for safety instead of back-up beepers on trucks in the early morning hours.

In its application for a provincial license, HCS has included the possibility of temporarily closing the Tenth Line between the pit areas and mining the gravel in the road allowance. This would be the last phase and would require an agreement with a future town council. The town could be entitled to a large quantity of free gravel for road maintenance as part of such a deal.

Daring daylight holdup

From the Advocate – 35 years ago (1983)

Daring daylight holdup

Two young men escaped carrying $4,000 in cash from the Toronto-Dominion Bank in Erin, after a daring daylight holdup on Feb. 10. Guelph OPP said the men entered the bank about 2 p.m. and approached a teller with a note saying they were armed, and “this is a robbery”. No weapons were seen. Officers from Guelph, Snelgrove, Mount Forest, Shelburne, Orangeville and Halton set up roadblocks, and an OPP helicopter joined the search, but no arrests were made.

From the Advocate – 25 years ago (1993)

No more police villages

Hillsburgh’s status as a police village will soon vanish – along with all the other police villages in Ontario. Police villages were established to allow small settlements with more than 150 residents to provide urban services, such as water or street lighting, and to collect a special tax to support the services.

Erin Township Council voted its support for a recommendation from the Wellington County planning department to dissolve all six police villages in the county, saying they had outlived their usefulness.

Community hall opened

Erin’s new community hall at the arena was officially opened on Sunday afternoon, with a large crowd of well wishers on hand to view the facility, and enjoy three hours of free skating. The following dignitaries participated in the ribbon cutting: Carolann Osborne, Frank Gray, Ivan Gray, Jim Shuttleworth, Ted Arnott, Duncan Armstrong, Robert Wilson, Terry Mundell, John Pritoula, Reay Sutherland, Paul Phillips, Doug Follett, Floyd Longbottom and Deborah Sutherland.

Pavement appeal

Residents of Erin Township’s Sideroad 5 have asked the municipality to pave a section of the road, saying “cavernous potholes” are wearing out vehicles and dust is affecting plants and animals. They submitted a 19-name petition requesting that the pavement be extended from the Eighth Line to the Ninth Line. Road superintendent Tony Wagenaar will report a traffic count to council before they consider a change to their five-year roads forecast.

From the Advocate – 20 years ago (1998)

Young girls in high-speed chase

Two young girls from a youth treatment centre in East Wellington got themselves into water hotter than they bargained for last week after locking up a case worker in a kitchen pantry, stealing a van and leading police on a high-speed chase on the 401.

Guelph OPP said an 11-year-old and a 14-year-old at the centre near Hillsburgh stole money and took off in the centre’s van with the 11-year-old at the wheel. They made it to Cobourg, where police spotted them.

There was a brief chase with speeds up to 140 km per hour before they were stopped. The 14-year-old was charged with possession of stolen property and breach of probation. The 11-year-old is too young to be charged, and was returned to the youth centre.

Caledon quarry plan raises fears

A 150-foot deep quarry proposed by James Dick Aggregates for the Caledon side of Winston Churchill Blvd. (at Olde Baseline Road) promises big problems for Erin, according to Penny Richardson, President of the Coalition of Concerned Citizens.

“That gigantic sucking sound we’ll all be hearing is going to be our well water filling up the hole they’ll leave behind,” she said. “Erin residents are about 100 feet away from where they’ll be blasting away at the countryside for the next 45 years.”

Groups unite to fight countryside disruption

As published in The Erin Advocate

Two groups concerned about the impact of equestrian events and imported fill have united to form Neighbourhood Connections, and have urged Town Council to hold public workshops on land use in agricultural areas.

Anna Spiteri appeared as a delegation on May 20, opposed to the temporary bylaw that council later passed, enabling Angelstone Farms to proceed with their equestrian season. She also demanded tougher restrictions on potentially disruptive rural events, which council did at least partially through a new Major Events bylaw.

“We expect council to protect the rights and quality of life of all Town of Erin residents,” said Spiteri. “We feel overlooked, not listened to. So we have joined forces to make our voices stronger.”

About 20 families and other supporters had been in two groups, concerned about noise and other issues at Angelstone events on County Road 50 near the Town Line, and about fill and possible noise from Meadowlarke North, an equestrian facility being developed by Anthea Larke just over 3 km to the north, on the Third Line.

The group is concerned that small businesses could grow into large ones without adequate Town control.

“Should operations such as Angelstone and Meadowlarke North continue to be unregulated and allowed to go unchecked, soon other ‘wannabe’ operations will be sprouting up everywhere,” said Spiteri.

Planner Sally Stull said the Town was already preparing an update of its Official Plan, which will provide opportunities for public consultation about agricultural land use.

The group supports the new Major Events bylaw, but is requesting a range of Town actions:

• Restrictions on the number of permits per calendar year to control overall community impact.

• A maximum number of hours per day for activities.

• Measurable auditory restrictions.

• Higher permit application fees.

• An enforceable Noise Bylaw for agricultural areas, which does not exist now.

• Lighting restrictions.

Ice squeeze carved Erin’s unique terrain

As published in The Erin Advocate

What started out with wondering how Erin village got its big hill has ended up as a story of ice lobes converging, melting and carving out our fascinating landscape.

Geologists say we are currently in an interglacial period – a break between ice ages that has allowed human civilization to flourish. In what they consider a recent event, the Wisconsin glaciation extended into what is now the northern USA. It lasted over 75,000 years and vacated Erin for the last time about 12,000 years ago.

Ice sheets up to 4 kilometres thick came through this area several times, but they did not simply come from the north. The ice built up as huge lobes in the Great Lakes basins and moved outwards.

In a late phase of the last ice age, the Lake Ontario Ice Lobe flowed northwest, up the Niagara Escarpment. It covered the current Erin village and stopped just north of Hillsburgh. Meanwhile, the Georgian Bay Ice Lobe flowed southeast, into the northern part of the current Town.

Between these frontal positions lie the Hillsburgh Sand Hills, part of the Orangeville Moraine, which is a mixture of boulders, silt, clay, sand and gravel, transported from other areas by the ice. Surface drainage is irregular, creating vast swampy cedar wetlands where rain recharges the groundwater.

Sitting at a high elevation in Ontario, this is known as the Headwaters region, with water flowing north to Georgian Bay via the Nottawasaga River, west to Lake Huron via the Saugeen River system (starting in the Dundalk-Mount Forest area), southwest to Lake Erie via the Grand River system and to Lake Ontario via the Humber and Credit Rivers.

A massive amount of rock and soil (known as till) was also being moved under the ice, and rearranged by meltwater. One result is the Guelph Drumlin Field, a series of more than 300 long rounded hills oriented in the direction of the ice flow.

The Erin village hill with the water tower is one of them, a mix of boulders, stones, sand and silt known as Port Stanley Till. It is common in Erin and Caledon (and it is not actually from Port Stanley).

Part of the Hillsburgh Meltwater Channel (Hillsburgh to Alton) eventually became Shaw’s Creek flowing east to join the main Credit flowing out of Orangeville, while another part became the West Credit River flowing south, eventually coming together at the Forks of the Credit. Just beyond Hillsburgh, the meltwater flowed west into what are now the Speed and Eramosa Rivers in the Grand watershed.

The rivers generally follow deep bedrock valleys, but are affected by various meltwater channels near the surface. In the southwest section of Erin’s territory, south of 10 Sideroad, there are hummocky ridges of dolostone rock where the ice sheets scraped away much of the soil.

Sections of the Galt-Paris Moraine are also in that area, dividing the drainage, with the West Credit flowing east towards Belfountain and Inglewood, while the Black Creek / Silver Creek meltwater channel ran south to Georgetown.

The easiest material for meltwater to transport is sand and gravel. When the raging waters slowed down, the network of meltwater channels often filled up with this outwash material, creating huge aggregate deposits close to waterways in the Hillsburgh-Erin-Caledon area.

The meltwater also created temporary lakes, and flood plains that allowed the soil to settle in layers. This created good farmland in some areas, such as the till plains west of Guelph where the ice scraped up large quantities of carbonates, sand and clay from the Salina bedrock formation, then distributed them to form a rich loam.

Information for this article has come from geology and aggregate mining reports by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and documents from Credit Valley Conservation and the Grand River Conservation Authority. I’d also like to thank John Slack of Erin for his description of the local geology. He is the CEO of Boreal Agrominerals Inc. in Brampton, which produces a natural fertilizer called Spanish River Carbonatite.

Fill Guide requirements called "onerous”

As published in The Erin Advocate

A proposed guide to help citizens do their own initial investigation of suspected improper fill sites was rejected by councillors last week.

They were satisfied with the sections that educated the public on fill issues, but sent the document back to Planner Sally Stull for revision because of the requirement to ask questions in person.

Councillor Deb Callaghan said urging citizens to confront people possibly engaged in an illegal activity is “putting them in a situation that is not safe”.

“I don't want to be putting residents in harm's way,” said Mayor Lou Maieron.

“Expecting people to gather this is quite onerous,” said Councillor John Brennan. “As much of this information as we can get from the complainant would be good, but certainly I would not like anybody to think that if it isn’t completed in full, that the complaint would not be acted upon.”

The introduction in the draft version of the guide advises users that, “The Town of Erin Municipal Law Enforcement Department cannot undertake an investigation or lay charges without the following information being provided.”

“I don't want this to be a requirement,” said Councillor Barb Tocher. "This is only a guide."

The document, which would be available on the Town website, is written for residents who “have witnessed and are concerned about soils being delivered and placed on land within the Town of Erin”. They would answer a series of questions with Yes or No, and fill in a series of blanks with information before contacting the Town.

If the citizen determines that more than 20 truck loads have been dumped (the maximum without a permit), they would be asked to take photos and “may inform the person running the fill operation that it must be terminated immediately as they are in violation of the site alteration by-law and continued operation without a site alteration permit will result in charges being laid. Inform them that they will be receiving a written ‘cease and desist’ order from the by-law enforcement officer.”

Anna Spiteri of the group Citizens Against Fill Dumping said it is reasonable for citizens to provide some information to the Town, but not to be involved in investigation and enforcement.

“This has a high likelihood of developing into a physical altercation. The citizen is not trained as an enforcement officer. Estimation of loads can best be done by an enforcement officer who has the right to go onto the property and to ask questions. Very few taxpayers will have the nerve to question a driver and very few drivers will provide accurate information to a person who is not an official of the Town.”

The guide is an attempt to screen out complaints about fill situations that are outside the Town’s fill bylaw jurisdiction, including aggregate pits which are controlled by the Ministry of Natural Resources, large areas (about 50 per cent of Erin) which involve wetlands and are regulated by Credit Valley Conservation, and fill being placed under authority of a building permit.

“We’re sending them everywhere but here – one-stop shopping would be nice,” said Tocher, prompting a burst of applause from some in attendance.

Brennan said the guide should not be construed as taking the place of the planned review of the fill bylaw. Maieron said there is “loophole” for abuse if excess fill is brought in on a building permit.

“The simple solution for the bylaw is that no fill be accepted except from a licensed aggregate site,” said Tocher, to another round of applause. “You know it’s clean fill and they’re paying for it, not being paid for it. We don’t have to care if they get 10, 20 or a hundred, because they’re paying for it.”

Stull noted that the Town’s Municipal Law Enforcement Officer has only a part-time position, and that fill investigations can require “considerable staff hours”. There have been no applications or approvals for site alterations in 2013.

If a citizen suspects fill is contaminated, they are urged to contact the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) directly, since contaminating the environment is a provincial offence. Spiteri said the MOE is only interested in dealing with contamination from “waste”, and not from fill.

Council says planner has no conflict on fill

As published in The Erin Advocate

Town Council gave Planner Sally Stull a vote of confidence last week, saying she has no conflict of interest in working on a review of Erin’s fill bylaw.

The issue arose because of allegations made in a letter from Dr. Marieke Wevers, a critic of current fill practices, published in the September 17 Erin council agenda.

In addition to concerns about trucking, possible contamination and lack of consultation about various sites, including riding arenas on Third Line, she alleged that Stull had a conflict of interest because of involvement in a fill project in Halton Hills.

After meeting in closed session last week, Erin councillors released the following statement without any discussion: “With regards to the allegations made in correspondence, Council is satisfied that the Town Planner has no conflict or pecuniary interest in regards to the Town of Erin Fill By-Law.”

The Town recently issued a cease and desist order for the Third Line project, and council agreed to a staff review of the bylaw after hearing protests from residents.

Stull said that she wanted a statement from council before working on the review. While she and her husband had been trucking in fill to a pit on their farm north of Georgetown, she said her work for the Town of Erin could not bring her any personal advantage.

Wever’s letter was one of many in the storm of controversy that has erupted over what some residents consider a weak and poorly enforced fill bylaw, and the fact that substantial filling was allowed on the Third Line outside the bylaw, under the terms of a building permit.

“I have also expressed grave concern that our Town Planner Sally Stull remains the permit issuer and supervisor of these sites,” said Wever’s letter, suggesting that Stull is biased on this issue. “A large number of citizens have indicated that they have made complaints to Ms Stull about these fill sites and similar to my experience their concerns have been abruptly dismissed.”

The Independent & Free Press newspaper has written about the Stulls’ use of land as an aggregate transfer station, their plan to restore a pit to agricultural use, and their bitter dispute with neighbours and the Town of Halton Hills.

In May this year, they reported on a Site Alteration Committee hearing, saying that in 2012 the Stulls were importing fill, “despite the protest of frustrated neighbours and in contravention of the Site Alteration Bylaw, forcing the Town to issue a cease and desist order in August after a staff investigation.

“The trucks continued until the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ordered at a hearing on Nov. 29, 2012, ‘there be no further importation of fill (or any other material) to the subject property pending the return of this application or further order of this Court, or the granting of a variance, amendment or exception to the Site Alteration Bylaw.’

“Only then did the Stulls’ company 1244002 Ontario Inc. apply for a variance to the Site Alteration Committee in December 2012.”

About 40 opponents attended the hearing, bringing a 138-signature petition and complaining about heavy trucks, noise, fumes and possible contamination of drinking water. The committee turned down the pit plan.

Sally Stull appeared at an appeal hearing in August, saying Halton Hills councillors and staff had not provided reasons for denying the application.

According to the minutes, she said the committee decision “was not made as per the requirements of the by-law but rather by public input on the matter”.

“Stull stated that the use of illegal fill has not been proven, that the haul route used has not changed in 20 years, and that residents knowingly bought their homes in close proximity of an aggregate transfer station. Activities at the Pit are in keeping with all levels of government, and Council cannot obstruct, ignore and deny activities like this...the use provides for employment and is an appropriate use for fill.”

The appeal was denied.