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For several years Carrières du Hainaut has taken a proactive approach to environmental issues.
Aggregates from mining (arable land, silt, clay silt, clay, sand, limestone (altered)) and from shaping (sawing residues) used to be stored in permanent repositories (as ‘clod’ in quarrier jargon).
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These different materials are now being used in a variety of applications, for example the rehabilitation of green areas, the production of bricks and cement, the construction or renovation of Technical Burial Centres, in civil engineering as a backfilling element or as crushed stone.
Stone dust slurry has found applications in agricultural land as a limestone soil improver or an element for colouring brick.
The clods are “made green” and planted as they are created, which integrates them directly into the local landscape and limits dust emission.
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Action is taken during installation in relation to the protection of work and the improvement of work places (noise protection, selective dustbins, site cleanliness etc).
Environmental nuisances, noise, vibrations due to mine blasting, dust and cartage are monitored and handled on a daily basis according to the usual methods.
Carrières du Hainaut seeks a direct dialogue with the local population to ensure that solutions are found rapidly to resolve any tensions or mutual misunderstandings.
A corporate citizenship approach has also been initiated by communicating knowledge of the inside workings of the company to primary and secondary school pupils and guiding them through workshops (training Tourist Office guides, explanatory signs about installations, technical brochure).
The industrial site has been put at the disposal of the Tourist Office which offers a visit to the quarry to tourists wishing to learn about the Soignies region.
 Drainage water
The excavation of ornamental rocks by Carrières du Hainaut started in the limestone formations of the higher Tournaisian (ivory level). This is the main aquifer in the Walloon region. Water occupies only the fractures of a limestone massif (faults, joints, galleries or karstic conduits). The deepening of the quarry has meant cutting into very active paleodrainage, leading to a substantial inrush of water in the deposit (exsurgence). The drainage is currently 650 m3/h. In the context of assessing the catchment of underground water, a simple declaration to provide water to a water distributor has had the effect of reducing by half the volume of water assessed. Carrières du Hainaut did not stop at this declaration.
The drainage water has indeed been supplied to SWDE and the conveying system is currently being built: laying down conduits, a buffer reservoir to make the water rise (“water tower”) towards the treatment and distribution centre at Neufvilles.
For practical purposes, the water has reached consumers since 2006, with an output of 400 m3/h. |
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