September 2002 AGGMAN People

Long-range urban development program pays dividends for Minnesota producers and communities

The Fischer Marketplace development, located on a former 600-acre mining site, is one example of reclamation being highlighted through the state association’s “Good Neighbor Program.”

Minneapolis, Minn.—The image of the aggregates industry has been an issue for years with the general public, pressure groups, and environmentalists. But a successful campaign by aggregate companies to promote the use of long-range urban development planning in Minnesota could point to a nationwide answer to improving the industry’s en-
vironmental image.
Launched in June in Minnesota by the Aggregate Ready Mix Association (ARM), the “Good Neighbor Program” is an initiative aimed at educating homeowners, local communities, and their city planners about the urban regeneration planning undertaken by aggregates companies within the state. The program is designed to highlight the many uses of aggregates in modern life, explain the mining process to communities, and showcase the environmental responsibility practiced by aggregate producers when extracting aggregates.
“The aggregates industry is facing an ongoing problem that we need to address,” said Tim Reagan, executive director, ARM. “The not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) mentality of the uninformed public can quickly become damaging to our businesses. We need to show homeowners, community leaders, and city planners that the aggregates producers are concerned with the environment and plan carefully for the development of their land following completion of mining.”
One of the key aims of the educational initiative, according to Reagan, is to show city planners how — by working with an aggregates producer — the tax base of a local community can be improved and guaranteed over the longer term. Detailed urban regeneration programs drawn up by many aggregate producers now plot the future addition of retail, residential, and commercial developments in the community, all of which contribute to an increased and robust tax base and draw future investment in the area.
The “Good Neighbor Program” also focuses on the development of educational materials and a specially-made video, which walk city planners and homeowners through a complete explanation of modern aggregates mining and urban redevelopment planning, including:
• Community applications: the many uses of aggregates in the community and their role in the infrastructure of highways, roads, airport runways, schools, and commercial developments;
• Mining process: how modern technology and techniques in blasting, hauling, washing, and transportation all add to an environmentally-sound process, and how planning plays a critical role from the opening of a mine to its eventual disposition; and
• Homeowner applications: how the use of aggregates is everywhere from a homeowner’s roofing tiles to toothpaste and aspirin.
“Our industry needs these kinds of programs across the country,” said Reagan. “We need to show communities how we are willing to work with them and include them in an analysis of the potential impact of a mining operation on their communities in terms of air quality control, pollution reduction, noise and dust control, and water management. We’re not just there to take.”

Success Story
The community of Apple Valley, Minn., is the site of one of the program’s earliest success stories. Approximately 30 years ago, Apple Valley Ready Mix was mining aggregates in a then under-developed area. Today, mining has ended in one of the two mining sites, and that area — Fischer Marketplace — is now 600 acres of single-family homes and a thriving commercial development of major retail stores that is 90 percent full.
“Times have changed. You used to just get a permit from the city and start mining,” said Pete Fischer, president, Apple Valley Ready Mix. “But today it can take five years of careful planning and approvals to get a permit. Now, aggregate companies work with communities to present a whole mining and urban reclamation plan to the city before we even start digging. That kind of cooperation is easing community worries and environmental concerns, and showing communities that aggregate companies are concerned about building better futures.” s

Information supplied by the Aggregate Ready Mix Association of Minnesota (ARM). For more information on urban redevelopment programs, contact ARM at (612) 332-6882.

Workshop Teaches Educators the Value of Aggregates

Iowa Limestone Producers Association teams up with a university for a geology education program

By Sherman Lundy

Dr. James Walters (right), chairman of the University of Northern Iowa’s Earth Science Department, addresses a classroom of approximately 25 teachers before they depart for a field trip.

Educating the educators was the goal of a workshop program held this past summer. The workshop about the state’s geology was the result
of collaboration between the Iowa
Limestone Producers Association (ILPA) and the University of Northern Iowa (UNI). The two organizations teamed
up to offer Iowa earth science teachers, grades K-12, the weeklong pro-
gram called “The Geology of Iowa Workshop.”
Resources from the Iowa Geological Survey, Iowa Department of Transportation, Natural Resources Conservation Service, local county conservation boards, the Iowater section from the Department of Natural Resources, quarry operators, Iowa science teachers, ILPA, and UNI contributed to the program’s development and execution.
The workshop for Iowa Teachers was the brainchild of the ILPA Market Development Committee. It was an outreach effort to assist Iowa earth science teachers to better understand the following:
• The geology of Iowa;
• The connection between geology and the extraction/preparation of aggregate materials for roads and construction; and
• The availability of classroom resource materials and support organizations.
Through its Market Development Committee, ILPA worked with UNI to develop funding, the curriculum and course outline, and logistics for the program. Bob Krasniewski of Martin Marietta Aggregates, the committee chairman, worked closely with UNI Earth Science Chairman Dr. Jim Walters on the project.
Financial support came from the ILPA and its membership. ILPA producer members provided funds for tuition
and room and board scholarships. As an association, ILPA provided money for food and transportation, instructor fees, and materials expenses for the nearly 25 teachers who participated in the course.

Developing the Workshop
Development of the workshop began during the spring and summer of 2001. A workshop application and brochure was first made available from the ILPA information booth at the October 2001 Iowa Science Teacher Academy of Science section meeting. At the meeting, I presented a program on “Limestone Products, Experiments for the Classroom” to interest teachers in exploring the relationship between the aggregates industry and the classroom and to encourage teachers to sign up for the workshop.
Additional information was made available via the Internet through the efforts of the UNI Earth Science Department. Other efforts to advertise the workshop included working with the Iowa Department of Education to distribute information and applications through area education agencies. Producer members were encouraged to contact schools in their service areas.
Teachers applied for the program from fall of 2001 until spring 2002. Final scholarship selections were made in May 2002. Teachers arrived in June and were presented with class materials, including a rock hammer, magnifying glass, and a copy of Wayne Anderson’s “Geology of Iowa” along with a binder for course materials, courtesy of ILPA.

Field Experience
The instructional staff included the UNI Earth Science Department and individuals from each of the agencies and organizations previously mentioned. Representatives from the aggregates industry were also involved as instructors during on-site visits to many quarry and sand and gravel facilities. They related the geology of the materials to the use and applications of the materials extracted and processed at that site. For example, Gary Reynolds, Holcim Cement, provided a luncheon and quarry tour of the plant. He differentiated the rock layers used in the production of cement on the basis of the rock chemistry
Later, teachers visited quarry sites, including sand and gravel locations, where different aggregate products are produced. At most of the sites, workshop participants were encouraged to collect samples for classroom use along with various fossil specimens they found in the exposed rock. The participants said they enjoyed this aspect of the workshop because it provided them with the opportunity to collect rocks, minerals, and fossils that they did not have in the classroom and the school districts could not afford to purchase.
Much of the workshop focused on field experiences, visiting active aggregate operations and many natural sites including Fossil Gorge near Coralville, Iowa, and Pilot Knob State Park for glacial deposit features. Other site visits ranged from soil erosion control facilities for agriculture to UNI water monitoring locations.
One afternoon was devoted entirely to presentations by representatives from various phases of the aggregates industry who talked with teacher participants about aggregates operations, product development, production techniques, and uses for aggregates in road and building construction, and aglime for agricultural purposes.
Participants then had the opportunity to observe the extraction, crushing, washing, and stockpiling operations following presentations by the industrial representatives. Linda Wolff, quality assurance technician from the Iowa Department of Transportation, discussed and illustrated quality control processes required in the production of aggregates. The local newspaper covered this field experience.
As part of the course requirements, participants had to develop a project, either an activity or collection for classroom use, in addition to preparing a reference notebook with written and printed materials collected from workshop activities. These reference materials and activities were only part of the treasures taken back to the classroom by the participants. Bags of rocks, minerals, and fossils collected during the workshop will provide teachers and their students with specimens for hands-on classroom experiences.

At participating aggregate operations such as Basic Materials Corp.’s Waterloo Sand and Gravel plant, teachers were encouraged to collect samples for use in their classrooms.

Measuring Success
The ILPA and the Earth Science staff at UNI established several goals and expectations for this workshop. One of the obvious goals was to help educators understand the nature of Iowa’s aggregate resources and the importance of these resources for use by agriculture, the construction industry, residential communities, business, and industry. Another goal was to provide educators with experiences in Iowa geology. A third goal was to provide participants with access to a variety of resource people in their own communities by introducing them to representatives from the various agencies.
How successful was the experience? Participants gave the instructors and the entire program rave reviews. Many participants commented this was the first workshop they had attended where the focus had been on learning at their own level with field experiences as the focus of the learning experience.
Two-thirds of the participants had never been into a quarry or sand plant before this workshop and only a few had any idea of the correlation between quarry production and the variety of products for use in road building and the construction industry. Other participants were totally unaware of the Iowa Geological Survey or other organizations including the NRCS or the ILPA. Prior to this workshop, several instructors did not have fossil or rock and mineral specimens for use with their students in earth science units and classes.
As part of the evaluation process, participants were given pre- and post-tests covering the objectives and goals of the workshop. Comparison of the test results revealed a dramatic change in every aspect of the workshop’s goals. The median growth in information, understanding, and application was from 45 percent to nearly 80 percent. UNI staff members commented at a review meeting that they have never seen such a dramatic shift in educational improvement in such a short amount of time. While gaining an appreciation for geology, participants also registered a major shift in attitude regarding the aggregates industry. By all counts, this workshop was a success and accomplished the goals established by the ILPA and the earth science staff at UNI.
The ILPA Market Development Committee would like to offer this workshop for at least two more years. The funding sources will need to be enlarged beyond the ILPA to cover the expenses for 2003 and 2004. All phases of the mining industry in Iowa along with the construction industry tend to benefit from these educational experiences for teachers. The Market Development Committee recognizes the need to promote the aggregates industry and to find new markets for our products. The promotion of the aggregates industry through public understanding of the importance of Iowa’s aggregate resources is an essential part of this effort.
The ILPA and similar organizations can reach out to communities through educational programs to help build greater awareness of Iowa’s geology, including the production of aggregate materials for commercial purposes. One informed teacher will reach many students and their parents. These students will eventually become members of the community and some may even become involved in the aggregates industry.

Sherman Lundy is a geologist with Basic Materials Corp. and served as a planner for the “Geology of Iowa Workshop.”