EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Quarrying is an activity where minerals are dug for the purpose of being used

in building, making roads through the alteration of landscape due to activities like

excavation, drilling or blasting, in particular, often generates a visual impact on the

receptors set in the surrounding. Economic development is one of the main objectives

of developed and developing nations worldwide. Development comes with growth of

urban areas. Urban growth is achieved through sand and gravel mining for

construction of modern, attractive and durable structures. The general objective of the

study was: to examine the positive and negative impacts of quarrying activities to the

economy and environment. The major environmental and socio-economic problems

related to quarrying revealed during this study include, landscape alteration, dust

pollution, noise pollution, illegal stone extraction, and accidents. The findings showed

that regardless of the important role those quarrying activities played in the economic

growth; it resulted into negative effects to the environment such as land degradation.

Solution by finding stone dust/ sand dust as possible alternative source in substituting

sand quarrying and gravel extracting. This alternative source is less harmless to the

environment and it can’t even cause any destruction to the society.

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 INTRODUCTION

Sand quarrying has been identified to comprise various activities involving the

removal of minerals (Acheampong, 2004) (including mining), producing several raw

materials (Mbendi, 2004) which have lots of environmental and health impacts. These

have emanated from the methods of operation by the various mining firms bridging

quarrying intermediation and underlying principles, its effects on the natural

environment as well as the people in the surrounding communities (Scholtens and

Van Wenveen, 2000; Shrock, 2002; Nyakeniga, 2009). Sand is utilized in a variety of

tasks, including land reclamation, the construction of artificial islands, infrastructure

and coastline stabilization. These initiatives offer both economic and social benefits,

although sand quarrying can cause environmental issues. When the rate of extraction

of sand, gravel, and other materials exceeds the pace at which natural processes

generate these materials, environmental problems arise. Sand quarrying is extremely

important in developing economy.

Sand and gravel are used extensively in construction. In the preparation of

concrete, for each ton of cement, the building industry needs about six to seven times

more tons of sand and gravel (USGS, 2013b). Thus, the world’s use of aggregates for

concrete can be estimated at 25.9 billion to 29.6 billion tons a year for 2012 alone.

This production represents enough concrete to build a wall 27 meters high by 27

meters wide around the equator. Aggregates also contribute to 90% of asphalt

pavements and 80% of concrete roads and the demand for aggregates stems from a

wide range of other sectors, including production of glass, electronics and aeronautics.

Added to this are all the aggregates

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 used in land reclamation, shoreline developments and road embankments (for

which the global statistics are unavailable), plus the 180 million tons of sand used in

industry.

This sand and gravel are mined world-wide and account for the largest volume

of solid material extracted globally and the highest volume of raw material used on

earth after water (about 70-80% of the 50 billion tons material mined/year). Formed

by erosive processes over thousands of years, they are now being extracted at a rate

far greater than their renewal.

Despite our increasing dependence on the colossal quantities of sand and

gravel being used and the significant negative impact that their extraction has on the

environment, this issue has been mostly ignored by policy makers and remains largely

unknown by the general public. Indeed, the absence of global data on aggregates

mining makes environmental assessment very difficult and has contributed to the lack

of awareness about this issue. As a consequence, a large discrepancy exists between

the magnitude of the problem and public awareness of it. (Rabie et al., 1994).

There has been a considerable increase in quarrying activities, particularly

quarry operations at Barangay Cannery Site, many dry creeks in Barangay Cannery

Site have large amounts of sand and gravel, which can be illegally mined easily and

cheaply for a number of purposes. The requirements imposed on the authorization of

sand quarrying activities are frequently presented in administrative terms, with no

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technical evaluation of the potential impact on the ecosystem. The purpose of this

study is to look into both the positive and negative effects of sand quarrying. Positive

in terms of financial benefit and negative in terms of environmental implications

linked with possible sand mining activities, as well as explains the best management

techniques to minimize the negative impacts.

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FINDINGS

Social Impacts of quarrying at Brgy. Cannery Site is due of Geology and

human activity. The study highlighted that river sand was quarried most from dry

creeks near Brgy. Cannery Site compared to pit sand and gravel because of its multi

uses. Quarrying is important for economic development, to construct durable, modern

structures, employment creation and revenue collection but removal of river sand

leads to deepening and widening of rivers. Pit sand and gravel are extracted from

open areas creating uncovered deep pits, which caused of accidents to the people and

livestock. Erosion and environmental degradation occur due to continuous quarrying.

GEOLOGY

Sand is a result of the breakdown of Earth’s crust. Sand is formed over a long

period of time by water, wind, gravity, and tectonics, among other forces. Water

provides movement of sediment from the beginning of streams and inland areas down

through the land. As sediment is transported it becomes more worn. While heavier

sediment settles along river banks and streams, lighter sediment gets carried to the

ocean. Gravity assists the motion of material down streams, rivers, and cliff sides. The

smashing of rocks together causes fragmentation of rocks. Like gravity, wind

contributes to the movement of materials in powering waves, currents, and the

eroding of surfaces. Fine sand is also transported to various locations by the wind.

Plate tectonics work together with gravity and water to push rocks upward and then

wear them down. These are some common causes that construct sand but depending

on location others may exists, such as animal involvement.

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 These forces cause decomposition of the Earth’s crust to make fine sediment

we refer to as sand. Depending on where you are located sand can look different.

Different region’s sands are composed of various materials. 

HUMAN ACTIVITIES

Environmental changes caused by human exploitation and development of

natural water and soil resources have long been a major issue throughout the world.

Quarrying activities have a significant impact on the environment. They have had a

number of major environmental-geological challenges that have hampered

socioeconomic development and urban modernization, such as increasing

environmental pollution, soil erosion, destruction of landscape aesthetics, patterns,

and integrity, groundwater seepage fluctuations, and consequent natural habitat-

induced geological disasters. These activities can cause the creeks banks to widened

and deepened. Many lethal accidents have been caused by quarrying activities. One of

the biggest negative impacts of quarrying on the environment is the damage to

biodiversity (Anand, 2006). Biodiversity essentially refers to the range of living

species, including fish, insects, invertebrates, reptiles, birds, mammals, plants, fungi

and even micro-organisms. Biodiversity conservation is important as all species are

interlinked, even if this is not immediately visible or even known, and our survival

depends on this fine balance that exists within nature. Both positive and adverse

societal impacts of modern manufacturing technologies have great consequences on

economics, health, safety and environment in general (Anand, 2006). Quarrying

carries the potential of destroying habitats and the species they support (Mabogunje,

2008). Even if the habitats are not directly removed by excavation, they can be

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indirectly affected and damaged by environmental impacts – such as changes to

ground water or surface water that causes some habitats to dry out or others to

become flooded. Even noise pollution can have a significant impact on some species

and affect their successful reproduction. Nevertheless, with careful planning and

management, it is possible to minimize the effect on biodiversity and in fact, quarries

can also provide a good opportunity to create new habitats or to restore existing ones

(Tanko, 2007).

These studies have revealed that, in addition to natural factors, massive

product demand has a significant impact on quarrying, such as the construction of

roads and infrastructure, as well as the dumping of quarrying materials in a specific

place.

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DISCUSSION

Sand is a natural resource which must benefit all citizen of a country. In recent

years the sand and gravel mining activity had increased worldwide fueled by

construction boom in both developed and developing world. The study shows positive

impacts of sand and gravel quarrying Development of infrastructure is one of the

important benefits of quarrying using cheap and readily accessible resources. There is

utilization of abundant high quality river sand, pit sand and gravel in building durable

structures. Sand and gravel are used in development and construction of

infrastructure, construction works at Brgy Cannery site. Sand and gravel, are natural

resources highly demanded in construction at Brgy. Cannery. All citizens must benefit

from this resource but this is not the case with some residents along the quarrying site.

In some area’s river/creek sand is completely depleted, and when it rains there is

nothing to hold water for livestock. The activity has many negative impacts to both

residents and the environment. Widening and deepening of rivers had been noted as a

negative impact. Destruction of environment and vegetation leading to formation of

gullies that pit sand, gravel and river sand quarrying activities damage open fields and

the ecosystems, creating an eyesore, with an offensive look, making the environment

ugly with many scars on the earth’s surface. Sand and gravel mining are important

activities to economic development in both developed and developing world. There

are many positive and negative environmental impacts to the activity some of which

are detrimental to the environment. As mining of resources is done most of the

negative impacts cannot be reversed and there is permanent alteration to ecosystems,

habitats, species and environment. There is need to limit negative effects and promote

positive impacts.

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 Instead of using sand and gravel we can use the alternative substitution,

crushed stone. Crushed stone can generally substitute for sand and gravel, and vice

versa. There are only a few naturally occurring materials that have the properties

necessary to make an in-kind replacement for aggregate. The advantage of crushed

stone is you can’t even excavate in mineral for production, you can’t even destroy the

environment, no more widened river banks and many more. The replacement of the

sand with stone dust shows an improved in the compressive strength of the concrete.

As the replacement of the sand with stone dust increases the workability of the

concrete is decreasing due to the absorption of the water by the stone dust. The

disadvantage of using this alternative source is crushed stone is not used in good

concrete especially in ‘Controlled Concrete ‘. This is so because the crushed stone particles

are not rounded like natural sand particles but are more likely to be needle shaped. This

causes difficulty in producing a workable mix. Stone dust causes the same problem that

crushed sand causes.

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CONCLUSION

The study on impacts of sand mining and gravel extraction in Barangay

Cannery Site and surrounding areas shows both positive and negative effects. The

study justified that there are both positive and negative environmental impacts to sand

quarrying and gravel extraction. Although sand is the soil component quarried most in

construction industry because of its strength as a resource and has many uses which

include building strong structures, plastering, making foundations , building

infrastructure and many more , In other words sand and gravels plays big role

developing the economy but it has a big effect in the environment such as :

destruction of biodiversity, widened creek banks, affects people in the community,

environmental degradation, accidents caused, general damage to the ecosystems. Sand

quarrying and gravel extraction are very important activities for economic

development in both developed and developing world. Generally, quarrying disturbs

land surface areas, leaving huge open pits which are difficult physically and

economically to rehabilitate at the time quarrying cease. Excessive quarrying leads to

depletion of resources on both riverbeds and open lands.

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RECOMMENDATION

 Stone dust/ Sand dust as alternative source in substituting sand quarrying and

gravel extracting.

The alternative material should be waste materials in the aspects of reduction

in environmental load and waste management cost, reduction of production cost as

well as augmenting the quality of concrete. Crushed sand has been identified as a

substitute for river sand thereby solving the issue of quarrying of sand from river beds

and improving the quality of fine aggregate. Quarry dust has been used for different

activities in the construction industry such as road construction, and manufacture of

building materials such as light weight aggregates, bricks and tiles. Our project

presents the result of experimental investigations carried out on “Quarry sand” and the

details of concrete designed using Quarry sand. In other words, this alternative source

is less harmless to the environment and also it can’t even cause destruction to the

society.

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IMPLEMENTATION

Objectives:

 Economic viability and possible positive economic impact to local

communities.

 Opportunities to rehabilitate, restore and enhance biodiversity

 Reintegration of the site into the surrounding area – how the quarry should

‘blend’ with the environment

 Health and safety considerations

 Environmental and social characteristics of the quarry and surrounding area.

 Impacts arising from operation of the site

Possible Solutions:

 Educate and inform public about the impacts and accidents caused by sand

and gravel quarrying through media for example television, radio and

newspapers

 Community volunteered to form committees, clusters and watch groups to

monitor, supervise and guard quarrying areas

 Reuse and recycling of building material to reduce demand for river sand, pit

sand and gravel

 Construction of soil conservation structures to reduce soil erosion

 Sand and gravel mining must not be done on one area but alternating sites to

reduce over extraction which destroy the environment beyond rehabilitation

 Strict laws and legislature to prohibit and control mining, buying and selling

of sand and gravel which include severe punishments like arresting illegal

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 miners, heavy fines and penalties of up to P20000, long imprisonment

sentences such as up to 10-year jail term

 Heavy police patrols and road blocks on roads to and from quarrying areas to

arrest illegal miners and confiscate the soil

Rehabilitation programs/ Action plans will be necessary in relation to:

 Covering of pits created by all miners as a way of rehabilitation

 Replanting vegetation on quarried areas to prevent further damage

 Construction of special roads for tipper trucks to reduce accidents and

pollution

 Close monitoring and evaluation of quarried areas

 Use of alternative resources to river sand and gravel such as crushed stone

 Prohibit dumping of waste by placing signs on all open areas

 Post-closure land use(s).

 Final land form.

 Slope stability and other health and safety concerns.

 Biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services.

 Soil conditions and management.

 Habitats and vegetation.

 Hydrology & hydrogeology

 Stakeholder engagement plan (seeking opinion and disclosure of

rehabilitation activities) throughout the quarry lifetime.

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Target Date:

Rehabilitation programs / Action plans to sand quarrying and gravel extraction

will be conducted every weekend of the month .

Persons Involved:

Citizens of Barangay Cannery Site and all public and private sectors in the

municipality.

Estimated Budget:

Replanting

Purpose Quantitiy Budget

Plant seedlings 250 pcs 8000

Total: 8000

Expected Output:

 To lessen the number of quarrying cases in Barangay Cannery Site.

 To bring back the beauty of the environment

 To spread awareness in the said community about the negative impact of

quarrying activities in their lives and in the environment as well.

 To find an alternative source instead of using sand and extracted gravels for

socioeconomic development.

 To educate everyone on what was the positive effect of quarrying in

developing the economy and the negative effect of quarrying in someone’s

life.

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References:

Acheampong, E. (2004), Impact Assessment of Quarrying Activities by Ashanti

GoldfieldsBibiani Limited on the Environment and Socio-Economic Development of

Bibiani, Undergraduate Dissertation, Faculty of Social Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah

University of Science and Technology.

Anand PB (2006). Waste management in Madras revisited. Environ.

Urbanization, 11(20): 161-176.

Mabogunje AL (1980). The Debt to Posterity: Reflection on a National Policy on

environmental Management N.P.O. Sada and T. Odemerho (ed). Environmental

Issues and Management in Nigerian

Nyakeniga A.C. (2009). An Assessment of Environmental Impacts of Stone

Quarrying Activities in Nyambera Location Kisii County. A Research Project Report

Submitted In Partial fulfillment for the Requirements of a Bachelors Degree in

Environmental Planning and Management at Kenyatta University.

Shrock, D. (2002). Defining Environmental Quality I.E.Q publication H I.

Biennial Report. Scholtens, Land Van Wenvee, D. (2000). The quality of mining ;

Dimensions and Strategies , Environment is the Environment Asia vol.5

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