Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/282830
Reclamation and Community Relations OPERAT F lood control and water conser- vation — they are polar-op- posite challenges that, in some parts of the country, have found a common solution with help from the mining industry. And it's a win-win proposition for aggregate companies and communities, an option that has become a reality for some communities is the use of mined-out quarries — or sections of quarries — to store water. e Hanson Material Service ornton Quarry, located along I-80 in southern Cook County, Ill., has been preparing since 1998 for the moment when its north "lobe" becomes opera- tional as the ornton Reservoir. is massive project is due to come online in 2015. It will provide almost 8 billion gallons of stormwater storage capac- ity. Communities on the south side of Chicago and Cook County's southern suburbs will experience the benefi ts. In the meantime, more than 76 million tons of dolomite limestone has been mined in that section of the quarry, up until the momentous "Last Blast," which took place in September 2013. " e underground tunnels that con- nect the reservoir system for the Metro- politan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD), as part of MWRD's Tunnel and Reservoir Plan, were actually started in the 1970s," explains Sco Jorns, quarry manager at the ornton Quarry. "For our part, we mined out the north quarry at ornton in a relatively short period of time. We also provided temporary fl ood water storage during that time in our west quarry, when orn Creek would overfl ow." In addition to the ornton Res- ervoir, a similar MWRD reservoir in central Cook County is also under con- struction. Located adjacent to Vulcan Materials Co.'s McCook Quarry opera- tion, Stage 1 of McCook Reservoir is scheduled for completion by the end of 2017. It will provide 3.5 billion gallons of storage capacity. Stage 2 for this res- ervoir should be complete in 2029, and will provide an additional 6.5 billion gallons of water storage capacity. North of McCook, the Majewski Reservoir was completed in 1998 and provides 350 million gallons of storage. " e end use of the ornton and McCook quarries as overfl ow for stormwater and fl ood control is visionary," notes Wendy Schle , senior sustainability manager for Sustainability Research Group. "A reclamation project of this magnitude takes leaders ge ing together and identifying what the com- munity needs — what they're strug- gling with — and ways that the mine site can benefi t the community with an end use." According to Jorns, now that the mining is complete for the ornton Reservoir basin, the remaining steps are to plug the truck haulage tunnels that currently connect the reservoir to the rest of ornton Quarry and complete the tunnels that will deliver stormwater from communities in the area. AGGREGATES MANAGER In different areas of the country, communities are dealing with the opposite issues of fl ood control and water supply. Decades of development over fl ood plain areas have left many communities with fewer options for stormwater containment — and fl ooding problems as a result. Other areas of the country are working to fi nd water supply solutions during times of drought. The Hanson Material Service Thornton Quarry, near Chicago, is home to the Thornton Reservoir, expected to be complete in 2017. The reservoir will have almost 8 billion gallons of combined sewage and stormwater storage capacity. Communi- ties throughout Chicago's south side and south suburbs of Cook County will benefi t from fl ood control made possible by this reservoir. 1 Water: Too much/too little 4 Storage for fl oor control