Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/420189
OPERATIONS ILLUSTRATED AGGREGATES MANAGER Voices of Experience Joel Nickel Vedat Ulugtekin Jason Conner Laura Stiverson ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ O pen communication with neighbors is important, says Joel Nickel, general manager of Environmental and Land Services at Aggregate Industries Management Inc. "We form community advisory panels at our operations so the company can sit down with members of the community," he adds. "We can talk about plans for the coming year, and the community can provide feedback on what they'd like to see done beer or differently." At one of Aggregate Industries' quarries in Massachuses, neighbors had concerns about truck traffic going through residential areas. "We worked with local officials and the police chief to find a solution," Nickel says. "We did a traffic study to find several alternative roads that are acceptable to the community where we can alternate truck traffic. at pilot project was just adopted into next year." Every other year, one of its quarries near Washington D.C. holds a quarry Earth Day with as many as 3,000 neighbors touring the facility. is provides the perfect opportunity for them to ask questions about the quarry. "One neighbor was concerned with noise from truck traffic," Nickel explains. "He came directly to us, and we worked with him to resolve the issue. We built another berm, planted some trees, and put up a barrier fence in the area. at was a year and a half ago, and we haven't had any noise complaints from him or that community since." I n Canada, there are good examples of proactive community relations as well. "We are in the northwest corner of Calgary where there has been a boom of development," says Vedat Ulugtekin, general manager for Lafarge Aggregates in the Greater Calgary area. "A commiee was formed by the city to help alleviate issues between the community and aggregate producers. e commiee includes representatives from all the aggregate producers in the northwest corner, as well as community representatives. We communicate as much as possible, try to understand the issues of the community, and then find a solution." Because of the dry, windy conditions in Calgary, Lafarge spends quite a bit of time on dust suppression. Haul roads are sprayed and dust suppression equipment is used at transfer points such as belts and chutes. If the dust-suppression system stops working, the plant is shut down until the system is fixed. Neighborhood roads that are affected by dust are swept as well. "Noise has been a problem from time to time, but it is rare," Ulugtekin adds. "It depends on where you set up and how you set up. If we use mobile plants that need generators, we pay aention to which way we direct the exhaust. If necessary, we build walls to deflect the noise. We also monitor noise levels at the property borderline to make sure we are not above the limit." "N o maer where you are, the key thing for quarries is to stay in contact with their neighbors and let them know what's going on," says Jason Conner, corporate environmental director for North Carolina-based Hedrick Industries. "If you don't allow the public in or have a closed- door policy, people start to wonder what you're doing. We have found that, if we are open with the community and let them come in and visit our site, it stops rumors and suspicions from developing." A community advisory council was formed to let the company keep neighbors informed and address any concerns. "If we need to change our operating hours, we let the council members know," Conner says, adding that they like to get out in front of any changes so the neighbors aren't caught off guard. At its Swannanoa plant, a water truck is used to keep dust under control on the roadways, and a dust suppression system is used at transfer points in the processing plant. To keep truck traffic from becoming an issue, signs are placed at the scalehouse and along some streets in the surrounding neighborhoods. e signs instruct drivers not to speed and serve as a reminder to be respectful of the people in the community. "We've found that the best thing is open communication," Conner says. "at seems to take care of most of the problems." A ccording to Laura Stiverson, general manager at Dust Control Technology, dust control options are determined by the conditions at each individu- al operation. Important factors to consider are where the dust is being generated, how much dust is being generated, wind direction, and anything else that can impact the placement or size of the equipment. "We work directly with our customers to determine what's best for them," Stiverson says. "We try to get a full picture of what our customers are doing, where their water supply and power sources are located, where the trucks are coming in and out, and how each of those factors will impact the equipment." It's also important to know if there's anything about the operation's process that might require a special feature on the dust control equipment. "Instead of having standard oscillation on a machine, a customer might need it to oscillate a greater range or to spend most of the time oscillating in one area," Stiverson explains. "If a truck pulls up behind a misting unit, the customer may want to be able to quickly turn the unit around to oscillate in the other direction."