Gladstone's quarry operators take on best practice

Gladstone Regional Council operates and delivers gravel materials to service its regional road network from approximately 70 quarries across the council area. With this number of quarries comes a responsibility to operate them according to best practice standards and to meet regulator conditions. Earlier this year, Council commenced a review of the environmental management of its quarries and engaged Redleaf Environmental aid in this process.

A priority for council was for Redleaf to deliver an environmental awareness training package to council staff and contractors operating the quarries. The training, held last month, was comprehensive and provided the operators with a chance to discuss issues around how to best manage and operate these sites.

The training targeted knowledge transfer in the area of site based management plans, ERA16 conditions, stormwater management, erosion and sediment controls, air quality, noise and vibration, vegetation, flora and fauna, cultural heritage duty of care, weeds and chemical storage and handling.

Council staff and contractors came away with a better appreciation of the commonwealth and state legislation and their responsibilities to the local communities in the Gladstone regional area. The training was delivered by our experienced environmental scientist, Darren Fielder.