Stone quarries, What safety measures are in place?
Quarries are necessary for infrastructure development. Quarry dust and stones are used for road construction and estate development. The business of quarries plays very important roles in any national development efforts.
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However, indiscriminate siting of quarries can pose risks to life and property. Although there are regulations governing the siting of quarries, some investors mine stones very near to human settlements.
By the regulations of the Environment Protection Agency (EPA), all quarries are to be sited 500 metres away from human settlements.
But the reality on the ground is contrary to the EPA directives.
In December last year, a quarry at Paebo near Nsawam exploded leading to the death of one person, injuring 29 others and displacing 1,236 people in the process.
Houses, as far as three kilometres away from the quarry site, had either the whole or part of the roofs, doors, windows and louvre blades shattered by the explosion of two containers containing ammonia and dynamite chemicals.
Churches and schools, such as the St Martin’s Senior High School, suffered from the effects of the explosion with classrooms, dormitories and teachers’ bungalows partially damaged.
Following the Paebo disaster, it has been observed that to avoid a similar occurrence in future, the operations of quarries in the country must be monitored by the EPA, the Minerals Commission and the district assemblies.
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This is important to guarantee life and property because besides ensuring that quarries are located away from human settlements, if not properly regulated, affects the environment as well.
The fear is not only from the explosion caused by dangerous chemicals, but the blasting causes cracks in buildings nearby, while the dusts from the quarries create respiratory problems for the people, especially children.
From Cape Coast, Shirley Asiedu-Addo reports that there are 16 quarries operating in the Central Region according to data from the EPA.
According to the Central Regional Director of the EPA, Mr Kwesi Owusu Sekyere, the agency was monitoring the activities of all these quarries to ensure they did the right thing in their operations.
“We are more concerned with the environment and how the activities of these quarries affect its sustainability,” he noted.
So far, he stated that no quarry has had its licence withdrawn for non-compliance with environmental laws and safety.
One of the quarries is the GN Quarry and Concrete Products Company situated about two kilometres away from the Takoradi-Elmina highway.
It started operation in 2014.
When the Daily Graphic visited the quarry, it was noticed that a community of new buildings was fast developing around the junction about two kilometres away from the company.
Vibrations
Some residents said blasting at the quarry always vibrates in their rooms.
“When there is a blast, sometimes you feel the movement under your feet for about five minutes, then it stops,” a woman, resident in the new community, said.
But the Health and Safety Officer of the company, Mr Swanzy Sablah said the company had taken immense steps to ensure the safety of residents in communities nearby.
There is a signboard at the junction of the road leading to the quarry with the inscription “Blasting Notices, GN Quarry” also indicating date and time of next visit.
Mr Sablah said the management of the quarry did not have a magazine; a place where explosives were kept and had to deal with a licensed explosive and blasting company to do the blasting at a new site as and when necessary.
“The vibration levels are monitored by another company supervised by the Minerals Commission and ensure they are within limits,” he said
He showed permits from the Minerals Commission permitting the quarry’s operations and added that the permits had to be renewed yearly.
The Regional Director of the EPA, Mr Owusu Sekyere, said the EPA engaged in monitoring to ensure the quarries were doing the right thing.
“Explosives are dangerous materials. They are not vegetables and very important precautionary measures must be taken in handling them.
“But there have been very few complaints concerning the operations of any quarry in the region,” he stated.
He said where there had been complaints, the EPA had communicated with the management of such quarries to make sure they operated within the law.
In another development, Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah & Kwame Asiedu Marfo report that the Buoku area, in the Wenchi District, is the enclave where most of the stone quarries in the Brong Ahafo Region are located.
The Nsemere Quarry, which was inaugurated by former President Jerry John Rawlings in 1984, is now a pale shadow of itself since it is currently not in operation as most of its machines are grounded.
Also located about eight kilometres near the Nsemere Quarry is the Vision Quarry. It is about 200 metres close to the Sunyani-Techiman main road.
Communities located near these two quarries are Buoku, New Wenchi and small hamlets on the stretch of road leading to the Nsemere Quarry.
Blasting areas
A visit to the Vision Quarry revealed that areas where rocks are blasted were far away from the main yard of the company.
According to the Administrative Manager of the company, Mr Enerst Oppong Apraku, the materials from the rock after the blasting were conveyed to the main yard for milling.
He said there were no communities near where the blasting were undertaken, adding that before that was done sirens were blown to inform people who might be nearer the areas to leave the area.
Explosive Magazine
Mr Apraku also showed the Daily Graphic the magazine of the company and went through how the explosives were purchased, stored and used.
He explained that the magazine was manned by a blastman, who had been trained and certified by the Minerals Commission.
A visit to the magazine showed that the area had been fenced while there was also a security post and sign posts to warn people about how dangerous the place could be.
He explained that once in a while, officials from the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) inspected the facility.
In addition, the magazine was always locked with the keys handed over to the police.
“We request the key from the police whenever we want to take one of the explosives for blasting and hand over to them afterwards”, he said.
Mr Apraku said the company bought the explosives from A.K.Y Mining Company Limited at Nsawam and store them at the magazine, which had been fortified to ensure that if there should be any explosion, it might not have any impact beyond the fenced area.
At the time of the visit, the administrative manager of the company said it had three explosives adding that based on a carefully estimated plan, the company was able to use the number of explosives it purchased before their expiry dates.
There was a similar story when the Daily Graphic visited the Nsemere Quarry.
The acting General Manager of the company, Mr Appiah Menka, said the company currently did not have in stock any explosives, since it was not in operation.
EPA
The Brong Ahafo Regional Director of the EPA, Dr Francis Nyagbenu, told the Daily Graphic that the agency had no problem as far as quarry dust resulting from activities of the quarries was concerned.
He added that the agency had been monitoring quarries in the region to ensure that they put in place measures to avoid unexpected explosions at their outfits.