The recession continued to take its toll on the Great Lakes limestone trade in August, according to a statement from the Lake Carriers’ Association in Rocky River, Ohio. Shipments from U.S. and Canadian ports in August totaled only 3,048,988 net tons of aggregate, a decrease of 31.4 percent compared to a year ago. The weak demand for stone, forced some of the U.S. Flag Lakes fleet to lay-up for a period of time during the month.

The limestone trade stands at 13.4 million tons for 2009, a decrease of 34.6 percent compared to a year ago. Shipments for 2009 are 40.5 percent below the five-year average for the January-August timeframe.

NIOSH gets new director

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that John Howard, M.D., will be the new director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) effective immediately. This will be a repeat performance for Dr. Howard, as he served as NIOSH director from 2002 through 2008.

Cobb Rock Quarry named outstanding mine operator

Cobb Rock Quarry, owned and operated by Seattle-based CalPortland Co., formerly known as Glacier Northwest, has been named the outstanding mine operator in Division 1 by Oregon’s Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI). The award is based on the “neat, orderly, stable, and safe” development of the site. According to the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association’s eDigest & Washington Watch, Cobb Rock was chosen based on its long record of voluntary reclamation, a well-planned and implemented operation, and its outstanding compliance record with DOGAMI and Department of Environmental Quality permits issued for the site.

The first DOGAMI inspection report on the site was issued in 1974, indicating that the quarry had an excellent long-term development plan, all soils were being stockpiled for later use in reclamation, and trees had been planted along the site’s property line to provide visual screening for neighbors. A 1980 inspection report noted that reclamation was being conducted in mined-out areas as mining continued in other areas. This voluntary reclamation continues today.

Vulcan supports Foothills Conservancy

The Birmingham, Ala.-based Vulcan Materials Co. Foundation awarded Foothills Conservancy, Morgantown, N.C., $2,500 to support land and water conservation in the Blue Ridge Foothills. According to NSSGA’s eDigest & Washington Watch newsletter, the conservancy, a regional nonprofit land trust, has protected almost 45,000 acres since 1995 by working with willing landowners and community partners to preserve natural areas and open spaces of the Blue Ridge Foothills region, including watersheds, significant wildlife habitats, forests, and rural farmlands. The support from Vulcan will help the conservancy expand both public and private protection of lands in the upper Catawba River Basin and assist landowners who want to conserve working agricultural and forest lands.

“Vulcan has been a wonderful partner in our protection efforts since 2002,” Susie Hamrick Jones, executive director of Foothills Conservancy, told NSSGA. “We thank the Vulcan Materials Company Foundation for this latest gift and will put it to work as we continue our conservation efforts.”

Quarry Academy

Sandvik Mining and Construction and Dyno Nobel are, once again, offering their Quarry Academy. The academy will take place Nov. 3-5 at Sandvik’s new training center in Atlanta. The three-day, in-depth educational program will cover the integration and optimization of quarry processes, including planning, drilling and blasting, hauling, conveying, crushing, and more. The program’s classroom training is enhanced with hands-on workshops and field trips. The curriculum is targeted to quarry owners, operations managers, and staff engineers.