Sustainability: Setting the Standard in Stone
Approaches vary by company and location. While some are recycling all the water used in quarrying and fabrication, others are seeing that every bit of waste stone finds some use away from landfills. Others are turning the old oil from their equipment into a heating fuel.
Robert Bellospirito, president of Windsor, N.Y.-based Devonian Stone of New York Inc., says one of his decisions was to establish production in older, existing quarries not yet reclaimed.
Nobody wants a quarry next door forever. Click on the photo …“We go in and quarry the material out, and then we reclaim the quarry afterwards,” he says. “It will wind up being some beautiful fields, or we’ll incorporate some rock ledges and put some creative contouring into the land to make it a beautiful site when we’re done.”
One site the company reclaimed within the last three years is being mentioned by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation as a possible nominee for the state’s reclamation of the year award.
“They’re very happy with the grading we did, and I’d love to get that award,” says Bellospirito.
Although that might sound a bit fanciful, Bohrer, too, says Michels views itself as environmentalists and stewards of the land.
“A quarry is a major investment, and when it’s played out, we want a return on that investment,” he says. “Many times, the quarries are turned into golf courses, or you can build a condominium complex or subdivision around it, put in a lake, and it becomes an asset to the community.
“It’s just during the process of quarrying that people look at it and think, ‘Wow, look at all that mess.’”
HIDING OUR LIGHT
Even the best quarriers probably aren’t doing as much as possible to get their side of the story out to the general public. However, there are exceptions, such as Michels, which hosts a yearly “Quarry Quest” at its facilities in Neenah, Wis.
“We believe it’s the largest public one-day open house held at a quarry,” says Bohrer. “We typically have 20,000-25,000 people come in to tour the quarry and be educated on how we do the work, as well as learn about the benefits of quarrying and the use of stone. We’re starting to get the word out that stone is a needed commodity, and we’re environmentally responsible.”
The other area where Michels may be something of an exception is in its approach to getting and renewing quarrying permits. Bohrer says his observation is that many companies try to keep the process as quiet as possible to avoid attracting the public’s attention.