Dust Control – Soil Stabilization – Erosion Control

Haul Road Dust Control  is a fundamental element to the efficient venture of a mining company. Not only with regards to security but as well to the employees wellbeing.  Surface mining operations use huge off-road haul trucks extensively to move material at mining properties. Historical research, using the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) emissions factors for unpaved haul roads, has revealed that haul trucks produce the bulk of dust emissions from surface mining sites, accounting for approximately 78%-97% of total dust emissions. This is even greater with a low value haul road dust control  program.

Observations of dust emissions from haul trucks prove that if the dust emissions are unrestrained, they can be a safety danger by means of impairing the operator’s visibility. This increases the likelihood for haul truck accidents. Yet, the greatest long-term health risk of dust generated from hauling operations is due to breathing of the respirable dust [median diameter <4 micrometers (μm)] and thoracic dust, which is equivalent to the EPA’s definition of PM10 [particulate matter with a median diameter <10 μm]. Exposure to respirable dust has always been considered a health hazard on surface mining operations, particularly if silica dust is there.

There are two legislative acts that control the air quality designed for mining operations: the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 and the Clean Air Act of 1970. The Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 established the restrictions meant for dust in the work place for healthiness and safety purposes. The Clean Air Act of 1970 controls air emissions from facilities from an environmental viewpoint. Characterizing fugitive dust emissions from haul trucks may help mine operators grasp the effects of exposure.

The Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act of 1969 recognized a maximum value for coal respirable dust of 2 mg/m3 for coal excavation employees. The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) enacts and enforces mine employee safety and health standards to ease mine employee injuries in addition to work-related diseases. If silica is encountered in the course of the sampling process then the applicable respirable dust standard is reduced to the amount of 10 divided by the percentage of quartz appearing in the dust. Representing non-coal mine personnel, the appropriate standard is the respirable dust standard of 10 divided by the sum of the quartz proportion plus 2. Both of these dust standards are designed to limit worker respirable crystalline silica (quartz) contact to 0.1 mg/m3 or less for the shift. Observance with these dust standards is projected to lessen a worker’s chance of work-related lung disease over an average life expectancy. Additionally, MSHA’s nuisance dust limit (total dust) for non-coal miners is 10 mg/m3.