Sustainability

Restoration of a quarry

• as for outdoors quarries in flat areas, the excavated area can be partially filled with the same land that was previously removed, and covered with agricultural humus. For this reason during activities in the quarry it is important not to mix the removed plant material with waste material. If, instead, the ground of a clay quarry gets in contact with a water table, it will be possible to convert the excavation area into a small lake. These lakes can be used for fishing, leisure activities, fish farming, irrigation, as a natural oasis, or can be devoted to water sports. As an example, we can mention the Fornace CARENA Park in Cambiano (TO), and the Ecological park of Unieco, in Fosdondo, Correggio Emilia;
• as for quarries located on a hillside, basically there is a need to reinsert the excavated area into the surrounding landscape, while guaranteeing the stability of the slope. It is necessary to rapidly obtain a vegetation cover that allows to efficiently consolidate the slope and mitigate erosions. A particular attention has to be devoted to the possibility to convert former quarries into dumps. With regard to clay, quarries are located on poorly permeable rocks that have the right characteristics to be considered as an appropriate “container” for polluting substances.  Clays are indicated by the EEC as rocks that are able to solve the problem of radioactive waste. It can be concluded that the negative effects that derive from extraction activities can be widely limited if prevention is done during planning phases. And finally, it is important to highlight that the excavated area, once it has been recovered, is extremely fragile as an ecosystem. This is the reason why it has to be constantly controlled.