Boral Quarries Orange Grove (Browns Creek)
15 Stephen Street
Orange Grove WA 6109
Australia
Introduction
The Boral Orange Grove quarry was established in 1962 by Swan Quarries and has been managed by Boral since 1982.
The quarry is 18.6 kilometres southeast from Perth and situated next to semi-rural/rural residential properties, including hobby farms, orchards and vineyards.
The Orange Grove Quarry supplies Perth with
- Aggregates of various grades (suitable for concrete and asphalt production)
- Gabion Stone
- Amour Rock
- Roadbase
Boral is committed to keeping residents informed and working with the community to improve its processes and reduce the impact of its operations, wherever possible.
Fact File
1. When was the Quarry established?
The Boral Orange Grove Quarry was established in 1962 by Swan Quarries and has been managed by Boral since 1982.
2. Where is the Quarry?
The quarry is 18.6 kilometres southeast from Perth and situated next to semi-rural/rural residential properties, including hobby farms, orchards and vineyards.
3. How many people work at the quarry?
Orange Grove Quarry has over 20 full time employees and a further 30 plus truck drivers.
4. What kind of products does the quarry produce?
The Orange Grove Quarry supplies Perth with:
Aggregates of various grades (suitable for concrete and asphalt production)
Gabion Stone
Amour Rock
Roadbase
5. How big is the quarry?
The operational area of the quarry currently covers approximately 55.7ha.
News and Publications
Health and Safety Innovation Award 2015 (Concrete Cement and Aggregates Australia Award) – Boral has won an industry award recognising its work in installing state of the art dust suppression equipment.
Plant Upgrade: In November 2015, Boral will upgrade of the processing plant at the quarry to reduce dust and improve efficiency.
Footpath Upgrades: Boral has been working with the local community and the City of Gosnell’s for support with the installation of multi-use walking paths near the quarry to improve safety and amenity for people and horses.
Boral Orange Grove Quarry Community Reference Group (CRG)
In 2008, Boral established a Community Reference Group (CRG) to discuss quarry operations and minimise the impact on surrounding residents.
In 2014, this reference group was reviewed and a series of changes were implemented:
- The CRG meets quarterly and reviews a series of monitoring tools
- Complaints and investigation report
- Progress on the commitments register
- Truck Movements
- Dust monitoring results
As well as 12 members of the community, two local government councilors also participate in the meetings.
Boral Orange Grove Quarry Open Day
Once a year Boral holds an open day and allows the community to view its quarry operations up close.
The 2015 open day saw over 200 people attend and 150 people participate in a quarry tour. The local primary school was given a stall to fundraise along with face painting and other activities. The site tours give community members a first hand perspective of the operations and how issues like dust, noise and vibration are handled. Tour participants were truly amazed at the size of the operation. This experience confirmed for many the efforts that are made to minimise the impact on the community.
Community Projects
One of the issues identified through its consultation with the community was residents’ concerns with the lack of suitable footpaths in the area. As a result, Boral is working with the local community to improve the footpath and walkways in Orange Grove.
In 2014 the local council requested evidence of the need to focus on this issue. Boral funded a survey to 205 homes surrounding the quarry, all supporting the need for a multi-use footpath.
In mid/late 2015, the city of Gosnells will construct these paths with materials supplied by Boral.
Community Newsletter
The Boral Orange Grove Quarry issues community newsletters for local residents to ensure they are kept well informed about activities at the site.
You can read the latest and past editions below.
Site Upgrade
In November 2015, Boral will start a two year, multi-million dollar upgrade of the processing plant.
With expected completion in mid 2017, this upgrade will reduce noise and dust, and improve safety.
The upgrade will involve relocating the new primary crushing station further away from residents and decommissioning old plant equipment. The result will see all three stages of processing occurring in enclosed facilities.
Following the plant upgrade relocation of the stockyard from its current position to a site that is more protected and further away from residents, is planned.
The entire project will take around two years to complete and the outcome will ultimately deliver a more efficient plant and a considerable reduction in noise and dust emissions over the long term.
FAQ
1. What is going to happen?
Boral is upgrading the processing equipment at the Orange Grove Quarry. This upgrade is designed to improve the efficiency of the plant and reduce noise and dust emissions.
The specific changes include:
- Relocating most equipment further away from residents
- Upgrading and enclosing the primary, secondary and tertiary crushers
- Decommissioning the old process equipment
- Changing the location of stockpiles to be further away from residents.
2. When will the project start and finish?
The Project will commence in November 2015 and is due to take two years to complete.
3. Why is the project happening?
This upgrade is designed to improve the efficiency of the plant and reduce noise and dust emissions.
4. What changes will the community see?
On completion, local residents should experience less dust and noise from quarry activities.
5. How will local residents be affected during the project?
There is expected to be an average of one additional truck movement per day into the site with plant and equipment, which will be concentrated at times depending on the project phase/stage.
6. What environmental changes will occur?
There will be a reduction in noise and dust at completion of the project.
The new processing equipment will be located on land previously used for quarry activities.
Water usage is expected to reduce due to the greater efficiency of the processing equipment.
No other environmental changes are expected.
7. What environmental approvals have been received?
There was a small area of clearing conducted in preparation for this project 2-3 years ago and this was conducted with the approval of the EPA.
8. How much will be invested in the local economy through this project?
Boral and the main contractor have been, and will continue to be, actively engaging with local contractors with spend of over $1m on preliminary works. We are expecting approximately $4m of contracted work will be injected into the Community through this project.