Aggregates Manager Digital Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/674527
MAINE The Maine Aggregates Association (MAA) partnered with the Mine Safety and Health Administration's Education Field and Small Mine Services and the National Mine Health & Safety Academy to produce a new training DVD titled "Aggregate Safety Series, Small Mines." According to Chip Laite, pres- ident of MAA, "This DVD will provide high-quality and up-to-date training materials for gravel mining operations throughut the country and assist operators in providing state-of-the-art training to their employees." The DVD was first presented at the MAA's annual safety conference in March. UTAH Tourists are visiting U-Dig Fossils, located in a Delta quarry. The Columbus Dispatch reports that the quarry provides rock hammers, buckets, and a guide to visitors. A backhoe pulls piles of shale into the quarry, where tourists are encouraged to search for tribolite fossils. According to a website for the quarry, a typical visitor dis- covers 10 to 20 tribolites in a standard four-hour hunt. WiSCONSIN A letter to the editor of The Cambridge News laments the lack of enforcement of the town of Deerfield's non-metallic mining ordinances. While the town board says that citations are to be handled by the Circuit Court, the clerk of the Circuit Court has said that the court cannot handle the citations. The letter claims that 11 violations of the ground vibration limit, 14 of the low frequency limit, and seven of the air blast limit have occurred. TEXAS WISCONSIN According to the San Antonio Express-News, execu- tives at Capitol Aggregates hope to begin operations at their 510-acre property in Hondo by the end of the year. The company applied for an air permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in January. The newspaper says that local officials and company leaders discussed making road im- provements to support increased truck traffic, but no commitments have been made. Vulcan Materials has a 1,710-acre property under development near the site, and Simpson Crushed Stone opened another op- eration nearby last summer. A local opposition group, Medina County Environmental Action Association, has expressed concerns about the effect of operations on air and groundwater, as well as road quality. In late March, the village of Sister Bay purchased two lots that have been operating as Sister Bay Quarry. According to the Green Bay Press-Gazette, the village purchased the 123-acre property from Sis- ter Bay Properties LLC for $650,000. The owner had been operating the site as a legal non-conforming use, but the site will no longer function as a quarry. Rather, it will be brought into compliance with the village's comprehensive development plan. Previously, the vil- lage had spent more than $30,000 on legal fees fighting the quarry. AGGREGATES MANAGER / May 2016 7 Untitled-2 1 3/8/16 1:26 PM