Dust Control – Soil Stabilization – Erosion Control

Posts Tagged ‘target’

Environmental protection officials in Beijing have had an easy time since the Olympics last summer.

The city recorded fewer polluted days following its smog-cleaning campaign for the Olympics, and authorities last month announced that the city’s air quality has reached the highest level in decades after meeting its annual target for "blue sky" days one month ahead of schedule, for two consecutive years.

But the fact that Beijing’s air is now clean is bad news for reporters.

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ENVIRONMENTAL inspections at industrial sites continue to find “a wide range of contraventions”, Environmental Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said in Pretoria yesterday.

“Inspections continue to detect non-compliance related to exceedances (sic) in emissions, illegal waste sites and contraventions of conditions across the range of authorisations,” Sonjica said, releasing the 2009 National Compliance and Enforcement Report, according to a statement from her office.

“While commitment to address these issues has been received in response to the inspection findings, with fairly drastic measures in some cases, enforcement action needs to be stepped up.”

Sonjica said a blitz on the cement sector identified lack of dust control – dust pollution as the major problem.

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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.

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U.S. Department of Labor
Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA)

Respirable coal mine dust can cause lung diseases such as coal workers’ pneumoconiosis (CWP), emphysema, silicosis, and bronchitis—known collectively as black lung. Black lung can lead to lung impairment, permanent disability, and even death. While there is no cure for black lung, there are important and potentially life-saving measures that MSHA requires to be undertaken to reduce exposure to respirable coal mine dust and prevent disease. Even though these measures have been required for many years, new cases of black lung disease continue to occur among the nation’s coal miners, even in younger miners.

Recently, MSHA conducted a targeted enforcement initiative that focused on miners’ exposures to respirable coal mine dust at selected underground coal mines. As a result of the lessons MSHA learned during this initiative, the agency requests that underground coal mine operators conduct audits of their respirable dust monitoring and control programs and address any deficiencies.

Dust sampling programs did not adequately address proper maintenance of sampling equipment or ensure that samples are collected at the required times (either on shifts or days).

Many mining operations implement a haul road dust control program in order to decrease the level of fugitive dust in the work area. 

Full story here

BRISTOL – Zoning issues surrounding a Tupelo Street business that have been floating around for several years could finally be resolved at the next Bristol Town Council meeting. ELJ Inc. of 703 Metacom Ave. has approached the town and is looking for a zoning change for its property at 95 Tupelo St. where it runs a stone-crushing operation.

Ed Tanner, Bristol zoning official, said a zoning change from general business to manufacturing at the site will make ELJ in compliance with town regulations.

Mr. Tanner said, as of now, the business is a non-conforming use. ELJ has argued in the past that the business is grandfathered because they used the property for similar uses before zoning at the property.

“They’ve done a lot of things to their operations to try to comply with our requests and the neighbors’ complaints about noise and dust,” Mr. Tanner said.

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FANQUIP’S Mining Division provides mines and quarries with total conceptual planning and custom design, heavy duty products, installation of ventilation and air control systems.

Company specialists can advise on strategic air control at the development stage or integrate into plants which have been in operation for some length of time. Fanquip’s Mining Division focuses on temperature control, ventilation, management of confined space environments, dust control  both in suppression and collection, and management of toxic gases and emissions.

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.

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