Dust Control – Soil Stabilization – Erosion Control

Haul Road Dust Control is a vital element to the efficient operation of a mining business. Not just with regards to safety but as well to the workers health.  Surface mining operations make use of large off-road haul trucks considerably to transfer material on mining properties. Historical investigation, using the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) emissions factors for unpaved haul roads, has revealed that haul trucks generate the preponderance of dust emissions from surface mining sites, accounting for roughly 78%-97% of all dust emissions. This is even greater with low value haul road dust control programs.

Observations of dust emissions from haul trucks show that if the dust emissions are uncontrolled, they can become a safety hazard by impairing the operator’s visibility. This increases the chance for haul truck accidents. Yet, the greatest long-term health danger of dust created from hauling operations is due to inhalation of the respirable dust [median diameter <4 micrometers (?m)] along with thoracic dust, which is equal to the EPA’s characterization of PM10 [particulate matter with a middle diameter <10 ?m]. Exposure to respirable dust has always been thought a health danger at surface mining operations, particularly if silica dust is present.

There are two governmental acts that police the air quality 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 limits designed for dust in the work place for health and security 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 understand 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 pit staff. The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) enacts and enforces mine worker safety and health standards to lessen mine worker injuries as well as job-related diseases. If silica is encountered at some stage in the sampling procedure then the applicable respirable dust standard is reduced to the quotient of 10 divided by the measurement of quartz in the dust. For non-coal mine workers, the applicable standard is the respirable dust standard of 10 divided by the total of the quartz proportion added to 2. Both of these dust standards are intended to limit employee respirable crystalline silica (quartz) contact to 0.1 mg/m3 or fewer for the work shift. Falling in line with these dust standards is expected to lessen a worker’s chance of job-related lung illness over an average life expectancy. Furthermore, MSHA’s nuisance dust maximum value (total dust) for non-coal miners is 10 mg/m3.

Richard Harington spends nearly all of his time working to find solutions to haul road dust control products and other conservation and ecological projects not only for work but for pleasure as well. For more information regarding dust control or Haul Road Dust Control  please contact the author of this article.

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