Environment
Our environment today
Environmental protection means pratical action
Longcliffe is committed to the environment and to the concept of quarrying with the minimum of visual intrusion. Both in rock extraction operations and in waste management Longcliffe Quarries has employed environmentally sympathetic strategies to ensure that its day to day and long term activities are carried out with minimal visual impact.
Before each phase of quarrying is carried out a visual assessment is undertaken to highlight those areas which might benefit from screening and landform amelioration to conceal the unsightly but inevitable effects of rock extraction. Large areas of new woodland have been planted as a direct result of these studies, all of them based on locally indigenous woodland mixtures which thrive on Derbyshire limestone soils.
Some of the environmental measures introduced by Longcliffe
Some of the practical actions Longcliffe have taken to protect and enhance the environment include:
- Blending waste mounds into the existing landscape topography. Although the amount of rock waste produced by the quarry is small, a concerted programme was devised some 15 years ago to blend a new waste mound into the landscape. Now this is nearing completion. Gradual Profiling, an innovative mixture of wildflower plants and woodland, have combined to blend an essentially new landform into the existing topography.
- Tree planting and pond creation. In a recent programme over 23,000 trees were planted by hand, and a natural pond created to encourage local wildlife to rapidly populate the area. These new woods are now making a positive contribution to the local landscape.
- Minimising the impact of dust and air-borne particles. Every delivery vehicle leaving the quarry passes through a wheel washing plant to minimise the amount of limestone dust taken out onto the lanes of Derbyshire.
- Reducing the environmental impacts of quarry blasting. Prior to blasting the quarry face is minutely surveyed using a laser theodolite, enabling a computer model of the rock face to be generated. A very accurate explosive pattern is then produced, minimising the environmental impacts of blasting - noise, vibration, dust for the benefit of the local community.
- Encouraging biodiversity and improving sustainability. Wherever possible Longcliffe encourages the bio-diversity of wildlife in and around its landholdings and is constantly striving to further improve its sustainability. Some important achievements are: Restoration of quarry faces at Brassington Moor.
- Reducing emissions and energy use. Major investment in a modern efficient machinery and processing plant to deliver important environmental benefits through reductions in emissions and energy use.
Natural Chemistry...Pure Science
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