Quarries take their environmental responsibility seriously Excerpt from Biz Hamilton+Halton Magazine* (Summer 207, Volume 24, Issue 2), (Nov, 2007)
Biz Hamilton + Halton Magazine Article* (Summer 2007, Volume24, Issue 2)
STEELTOWN TO
GREENTOWN
Trying to catch up…
By Kevin Marron / Photos by Roy Timm
When it comes to throwing stones at environmental sinners, quarries make an easy target. On the surface they rape the country side, displace local wildlife and leave a gaping wound in the earth in their quest to supply the materials needed for our roads and buildings. You can’t be less eco-friendly than that.
But dig a little deeper and you will find that quarries actually take their environmental responsibility seriously and, like the rest of us, do their part to try to make the world a greener place.
Burlington-based Nelson Aggregate Co. has supplied the limestone for many local landmarks. It has been used in concrete for the CN Tower, the Rogers Centre and the Skyway Bridge. Yet they are also working with a number of partners to provide the building blocks that allow us to heal the wounds our demands have created.
“When it comes to the environment it has to be a partnership between various organizations,” says Norm Elmhirst, president of Nelson.
He cites their most recent endeavor that saw the company working hand in hand with the Bruce Trail Association to allow hikers safe access across the company’s land. Nelson’s north perimeter runs along Colling Road, a shoulderless concession road with a lot of traffic. Their fence along the boundary was deteriorating and badly needed repair.
“We started looking at it,” he explains, “And we thought if we were able to replace the existing fence with a new fence situated further away from the road, it would give hikers a safer route less traveled by traffic. We started talking with the Bruce Trail folks right away to see if they were interested, and they thought it was a perfect idea. Our target was to have it available for the summer hiking season.”
It was a team effort from the start. After permission was granted from the Ministry of Natural Resources to move the licensed boundary, the kilometer-and-a-half-long fence was erected last fall at a cost of approximately $16,000. The Bruce Trail Association provided everything else.
This isn’t the first time Nelson has donated land and materials to its surrounding communities. In 2003 the company donated 23 hectares of land to the Grand River Conservation Authority, a year before clearing its adjacent aggregate pit to sell for industrial development. The area, which includes 800 meters along the east bank of the Grand River, is now the focus of study on recreational use and fish habitat under the provincial “Exceptional Waters” program for its combination of natural features and quality of natural habitat.
Nelson has also worked with the City of Burlington to restore their abandoned quarry in Kerncliffe Park; the type of used and abused landscape that environmentalists like to wag their fingers at. Swallows now call the cliff faces home, and the area has become a natural habitat for many varieties of foliage including nine plant species that are rare to the area.
In 2005, the City of Burlington received the Bronze Plaque Award from the Aggregate Producers Association of Ontario for the exemplary rehabilitation efforts provided at Kerncliffe. Nelson’s employees have also participated in this year’s Earth Day Clean-Up on April 21.
“People throw away tires, batteries and a lot of heavier items. It’s amazing the kind of stuff you find out there in the ditches,” Elmhirst explains. “We had 41 employees and family members collect all the garbage from the area and we disposed of it ourselves.”
Before disposing of it however, they weighed it, and discovered they had gathered an astonishing 2 ½ tonnes of garbage. It serves as a grim reminder that before we point to business and demand they clean up their act, we need to make sure we’ve cleaned up our own. Let he who is without sin….
*Excerpt reprinted with permission of Town Media, a Division of Osprey Media LP
