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Mineral Aggregate Site Reclamation in Indiana
Indiana is one of the few states that does not regulate non-coal mineral/aggregate extraction and “end of mine life” reclamation. While regulatory efforts were started, in 1995 the Indiana Mineral Aggregates Association formed the Environmental Stewardship Council (ESC) to formulate voluntary standards for the reclamation of land being affected by the extraction of aggregates. This program is now recognized by counties and the State of Indiana as the reclamation standard.
The ESC with IMAA producer members developed the reasonable, cost-effective, efficient, and flexible guidelines that now make up “The Guiding Principles” of our reclamation program. These principles promote land reclamation and beautification, provide technical support to the members, encourage the use of comprehensive advance design planning for reclamation, and promote the self-regulation concept for our aggregate mining sites.
Most producer members and quarry/plant managers are involved in the ESC program by submitting ESC applications and application maps for new sites, reclamation plan maps, the 10-year affected acres maps updating the reclamation plan, and annual reports giving the number of acres affected and number of acres reclaimed in the last calendar year. The ESC site review coordinator, Doug Lozier, interfaces with each site for an annual inspection of changes to the mine site, reclamation projects, compliance with The Guiding Principles, and verification of the annual reporting. He can also provide the site with technical assistance with the compliance.
During the pandemic, Doug Lozier took on a project to research old records, applications, and reports to compile statistics on the number of acres involved in aggregate extraction, affected by mining, and those that have been reclaimed. Here is a summary of this work to date for current active producers:
| Limestone Quarries | Sand and Gravel | Stoneyards | Total Acres | |
| Pre-1999 Affected Acres | 6,761 | 4,879 | 51 | 11,691 |
| 2021 Affected Acres | 129 | 240 | 0 | 369 |
| Total Post-1999 Affected Acres | 4,785 | 4,917 | 0 | 9,702 |
| Total Affected Acres | 11,546 | 9,796 | 51 | 21,392 |
| Pre-1999 Reclaimed Acres | 393 | 624 | 0 | 1,018 |
| 2021 Reclaimed Acres | 0.50 | 10 | 0 | 11 |
| Total Post-1999 Reclaimed Acres | 239 | 286 | 0 | 525 |
| Total Reclaimed Acres | 632 | 910 | 0 | 1,543 |
| Total Site Acres | 27,402 | 17,029 | 56 | 44,487 |
Additionally, 1,739 affected acres have been reclaimed in 15 former aggregate producing sites identified since the beginning of the ESC program.