The White Valley Chemical Company

By Guy Scott

The Township of Harvey has some unique geological features. It is a contact point between the Canadian Shield to the north and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands to the south. The Shield covers 2/3 of Canada’s landmass and is composed of hard rocks: especially granite. The Great Lakes Lowlands contain large sections of deep fertile farmland. Many of the rocks are softer limestone. The topography of Harvey is composed of limestone. Harvey has always been a site of quarrying, with the limestone rock either crushed for road gravel or used for landscaping as flagstone or armour stone. There are numerous quarries old and new in the Nogies Creek area.

North of Nogies Creek lies several small lakes: prime sites for deposits of marl. Marl is a lime rich mud called calcium carbonate, found mostly in lake bottoms. It is used in such diverse industries as cement and explosives. In the 1940s a deposit of marl just off the White Valley Road west of Nogies Creek became the site of the White Valley Chemical Company. The marl was dredged from the bottom of the lake and processed on site. For several years it was a going concern. Eventually the site was abandoned, but the White Valley Road was kept open.