Quarry effects must be curbed (2024)

FAQs

What are the effects of quarrying? ›

Every stage of a quarry's life cycle comes at an enormous environmental cost: loss of natural carbon sinks, eradication of biodiversity, noise and air pollution, and disruption of natural streams and springs. And these losses can never be reversed, even after quarries are inevitably abandoned.

Environmental damage from quarrying activities includes soil displacement, landscape change, and soil infertility. This has been observed to have significant effects on the environment and agricultural industry [1].

Planting new trees helps to reduce the visual pollution left by the quarry and increase biodiversity in the area. In some cases, screens may also be erected while the quarry is active, to shield residents from visual pollution and protect the surrounding area.

The quarry site selection criteria was formulated and applied in GIS environment by incorporating factors such as; slope of the quarry rock face, distance of the quarry site, land use/land cover, accessibility, overburden thickness, rock type and degree of weathering.

Rock quarries create invisible dust particles proven to cause silicosis—a progressive, incurable lung disease. Long-term exposure to particulate matter is strongly associated with heart disease, stroke, infertility, and pregnancy complications.

Workers exposed to fine dust containing quartz are at risk of developing a chronic and possibly severely disabling lung disease known as "silicosis". It usually takes a number of years of regular daily exposure before there is a risk of developing silicosis.

Mining and quarrying can be very destructive to the environment. They have a direct impact on the countryside by leaving pits and heaps of waste material. The extraction processes can also contaminate air and water with sulfur dioxide and other pollutants, putting wildlife and local populations at risk.

Pits and quarries are, by nature, self-consuming. Once a quarry's stone, sand and gravel have been fully extracted it's no longer necessary to keep it open. Sites can stay open for 35 years or more but many are depleted within 5 years.

Quarrying creates scars of rock and bare earth. The dust, noise, machinery and lorries destroy the peace and safety of country lanes and local villages.

How to reduce quarrying? ›

Answer. To reduce lasting visual pollution, landscaping and tree planting could take place when the quarry is exhausted. Screens could also be set up around working quarries. Restrictions on the size of quarries and working hours could cut down on visual and noise pollution.

There are many reasons that are why Quarrying can be a major environmental concern. Reasons are listed below: 1) Very small dust particles that spread in the air around quarrying sites cause air pollution and inhaling problems. 2) It creates noise pollution due to the heavy machinery and the blasts to break huge rocks.

Stone is usually quarried in (1) Open pits or shelf quarries, (2) Underground mining, (3) Boulder quarries, and (4) Aggregate quarries.

Quarries are often noisy, dusty places and some of the work can be very physical. Such factors may expose quarry workers to an increased risk of: hearing loss, • respiratory disease, and • musculo-skeletal injuries such as back injury.

Quarry signs include, cliff edge, quarries are not play areas - stay away, deep cold water, loose rocks, quicksand, do not dig, stay away, deep slurry, do not climb, thin ice, get a grip.

-Traffic congestion: Quarries generate a lot of truck traffic, which can contribute to traffic congestion and air pollution. -Property devaluation: A quarry can lower the property values of homes in the area. -Safety hazards: Quarries are dangerous places with risk of accidents, like explosions, fires, and falls.

The issues of concern haven't changed over time – visual intrusion, damage to landscapes, traffic, smoke, noise, dust, damage to caves, loss of land, and a deterioration in water quality.