Tarmac CZ - responsible miner

Social responsibility is the commitment of Tarmac CZ a. s. to behave ethically and to contribute to economic growth, but also to make effort in improving the life in the region as the whole, i.e. nature, environment, sustainable development, coexistence with local community and its employees with their families.

 

“The company Tarmac CZ is not insensitive to natural environment.” Tarmac CZ a. s., in the turn of the year 2004/2005, was integrated among the most significant mining companies in the Czech Republic and the fact that other producers and processors of raw materials in the Czech Republic focus their attention to the firm´s procedures, could be expected. Tarmac CZ a. s. has an adequate potential, so it can govern the direction of other development in the key areas of raw material processing. This can be seen not only when the best technologies during mining and processing of raw materials are used and applied, when we provide new services to our customers, but also in the social area. The main scope of Tarmac CZ a. s. with the official seat in Liberec is excavation of raw materials and their consequential processing. The company can clearly realize that its activities appreciably interfere into the country nature and influence the nearest surrounding of sites and environment as well. Our company specified internal ecological regulations that contravene in many ways the requirements of current legal principles of the state, so the negative impact is decreased as much as possible. The system of environmental protection is a part of the firm´s strategy and working according to ČSN ISO 14001 is a commonplace for us. Not only are our employees obliged to fulfill these regulations, but also contractors who provide their services in the sites.

 

Coexistence with the Surrounding

Cooperation and permanent communication with authorities of the state autonomy help to crate “bridges” between Tarmac CZ a. s. and inhabitants, who live in the surrounding. One of the tools of this cooperation are three-year plans for communication with the surrounding, which help in the area of the activities of the company. This communication is in fact information about the firm´s activities and intentions provided to local authorities, public and technical help to villages. Open days and excursions for technical and laical public enable to understand better the ways of excavation with the help of modern technologies and persuade about economical and safe processing of raw materials in relation to the environment. The support of children and youth sport and culture activities in villages helps not only to healthy development of future generations, but also to good relationships with villages and their inhabitants.

Safety and Health Protection

Safety and health protection is the basis of each activity. Despite the progress in 21st century, the mining area is still strongly connected with human factor and its physical involvement in the mining process and in processing of raw materials. Lives and health not only of our employees, but also of suppliers and subscribers, belong among the priorities, which we aim a big attention on. The points of departure are: cognizance of responsibility for lives and health as the most valuable values and traditions of mining operations in the Czech Republic. Thank to these traditions we have acquired adequate respect to natural laws that significantly influence safe situations during excavation of raw materials, experiences of our employees and other colleagues in the team of Tarmac Group. From these points of departure, the tools for reaching the goals in the area of safety and health protection arise, and the target for the year 2005 and the following years is to work without any injuries.

Company´s Magazine “Word of Stone”

This magazine successfully contributes not only to the foreknowledge of our employees, but also to wider public and information media in the area of our environment, and also in the area of other charitable activities and general social responsibility of the company, which is a part of the business strategy of the whole company Tarmac CZ a. s. Apart from this magazine, the company publishes different unscheduled publications, for example “Stone around us” or “In what way and why stone is excavated”, and many other publications that relate to our environment, safety of work and other themes for example “Guide of health” etc.

 
 

Health & Safety of Children above all

In agreement with the safety politics of Tarmac CZ a. s., which are implemented into the sites, a new project has been announced - “More safety for children on roads”. Children from nursery schools in the surrounding of our sites were equipped with reflective vests for free, which increase their visibility during their walks and during their movement on roads. Tarmac CZ a. s. has decided to help to all owners of children´s sandpits and has had a detailed analysis of sand carried out from the sandpit in Horní Řasnice. On the basis of these analyses the sand was labeled as satisfactory according to all requirements of the decree of the Ministry of Public Health Czech Republic, No. 135/200, the collection of law, and this sand can be used for playing purposes outside children´s sandpits. During the celebration of the Children´s day, Tarmac CZ a. s. sent to all nursery schools dockets for free consumption of healthy sand from the sandpit in Horní Řasnice. More than 80 nursery schools have used this offer and they have taken away 314,4 tonnes of sand in the total value of CZK 50 000,-.

Historical Heritage

Thanks to our mining activities we have a unique opportunity to discover more about our ancestors and their history.

The quarry of Plaňany hhides rich discoveries from the all periods of prehistory. Archeological searching in the quarry of Plaňany started in 1998. In the area of 6 000 square meters, 10 different objects were found, 9 of them were settlements and 1 was a skeleton grave. Cultures that were discovered in this area are from the Palaeolithic and from the Roman Age. Despite the fact that the skeleton from the grave was not in a good condition, it gives an image of the way of burying in those days. In this almost circular hole, whose diameter is 120 cm, the corpse was put in a slouched position on its right side. In the burial ground, no charity was found. Anthropological search confirmed that the corpse was a man in the age between 20 and 40 years probably from the Elder Bronze Age. The exact period is not possible to determine, because no other materials from those days were found.

Pňovany JJewish cemetery in the northwest part of the excavated area.
The location of the cemetery, whose entry was probably from the quarry, was selected with an amazing feeling for nature. When we look in a more detailed way, we can find a number of valuable gravestones from different periods. A large part of a bulwark is preserved and it is possible to determine a ceremonial house at the entrance. It is a very quaint locality. Mítov - Hradiště Mítov (at the southwest boundary of the excavation area) is a prehistoric settlement from the Younger Bronze Age.

Mítov --Hradiště Mítov (at the south-west boundary of the excavation area) is prehistoric settlement from the Younger Bronze Age. .

The hill of Hradiště is a significant country dominant feature with a walled fort from the Late Bronze Age. It is one of the most significative prehistoric localities in the west Bohemia.

Archeological searches show that there was a settlement from the Late Bronze Age. The fort itself is located on a sharp basalt mound, which is 100 m above the surrounding countryside, and provides beautiful views to the surrounding. In 1996, the hill was announced as a national culture treasure, and later this locality was announced as a natural reserve. It is of a volcanic origin and in the west side of the hill it is possible to observe basalt gentries up to 25 m high that stand apeak in prisms of 5 and 6 sides of different thickness.

The hill of Hradiště

The former quarry borders with the nature reserve, educational track and cultural sight of the hill of Hradiště. These facts make impossible to do common reclamations of land and that is why in the Plan of the Quarry Liquidation the natural succession of the area is considered. This method of denaturalization enables the formation of various vegetation and this man-made area can become the home of many kinds of fauna.

The occurrence of endangered species of Kuňka žlutobobřichá (“Yellow stomach frog”) was noticed in all stages of its development. As those frogs have used for their reproduction only a periodical puddle, which mostly had dried before they could finish their metamorphosis, a man-made reproduction pool has been created with the cooperation of a specialist through a grant from the Plzeň´s region. This pool is covered with a special hydro-insulating foil and in these days, it is the home not only for this kind of frog, but also for other kinds of batrachians

Biodiversity Geodiversity

It is obvious that with our activities we influence the variety of species biodiversity in the mining area. The public is almost sure that during excavations and processing of raw materials the environment is affected always in a negative way. The aim of this brochure is not to disprove these opinions. This is the everlasting task for everyone, who is involved in the activities of Tarmac CZ a. s. The following information can contribute to the objectification of the opinions on our activities.

Before any excavation starts, a demanding preparation including so called “Plan of redevelopment and reclamation” is prepared. Its aim is to state the procedure for obliteration of excavation impacts in the time, when the excavation has not been started yet. The original biological culture will be destroyed in the area (it is the same with any constructional buildings, like schools, department stores, railroads, etc.), but from the beginning, we are concerned about the next procedures, when excavation works finish; if there is a forest, meadow or water pond, and we create a big financial reserve for accomplishment of this intention. Do you have a similar plan, how to proceed, when your car or house is out of order?

Forest nursery?
No, it is a new plantation after the reclamation in Chuchelna.

Environmental Protection and Reclamation

Environmental protection and reclamation creates indivisible part of our everyday activities mainly in these areas:

Protection of rock environment
It could sound paradoxically, but the part (and duty) of environmental protection during excavation of raw materials is excavating of the whole resource of raw materials in the determined place. Preparation and opening of a new quarry or sandpit is so difficult process that full excavation of currently open deposits creates a part of protection of rock environment.

Protection of water systems
In this area, the specific problem is the excavation of so called “pit water” it is the water, which is assembled in the lowest place of quarries and sandpits, and if the amount of this water could endanger operations of our devices, we pump up the water and then we drain it to a stream. During our activities, we make a big effort to eliminate the states, which could damage the quality of this pit water.

Protection of Air
Protection of air belongs to the most difficult part of environmental protection (technologically and financially). It figures from the nature of the process of stone processing, which is in fact the combination of crushing and screening of raw materials. Our task in this area is to eliminate so called “primary dustiness” with the help of spraying and suction systems, where we spend a lot of money every year in millions of Czech crowns, and to eliminate so called “secondary dustiness”, it is dust on haul roads, which are cleaned with common spraying vehicles.

Waste Economy
We have noticed positive changes in this area, because not all used things have to be removed to land fill sites. We are using the possibility to return specified products to their producers, who can undertake their safe disposal and we also prefer recycling processes.

Horní Tašovice is the locality with the occurrence of highly endangered species. The plan of recultivation suggests leaving excavated areas for the natural succession.

We can find a kind of lizard (Lacerta vivipara) basking on warmed stones and tree stumps in a clearing. It lives in mountainous areas, where other kinds of reptiles cannot breed by laying eggs because of the climate. This lizard has adapted to these conditions, it incubates eggs in its own body and lays them just before hatching.

Ground squirrels are protected as a critically endangered species (according the law 114/1992 and decree 395/1992) from the point of view of the whole Europe. This rodent from the squirrel family has a thick, viridescent fur. Its coloring helps it to mask in places, where it moves. It is a bit bigger than its related squirrel, but it has got a short tail, small ears and decumbent fur.

Recultivation

Recultivation of excavated areas helps to blot out these areas and to incorporate them into the surrounding nature as quick as possible. According to the character of recultivations, lands are returned to the agricultural and land resources. The way of recultivation is set according to the former land character, country creation and requirements of authorities of the civil service in the Environmental Department. For the realization of recultivations our company creates financial reserves for redevelopment and recultivation in the extent, which is needed for planned recultivations.

Redevelopments and recultivations are made on the basis of recultivation plans, which need to be approved by authorities of Environmental Department and by local authorities. This area is undergoing by a certain development and new, better methods of these operations with better final results are being discovered. This is the reason, why Tarmac CZ a. s. – East Area, has assigned to put together the actualization of recultivations plans for the sites of Tachov, Chlum and Košťálov.

The Best Working Procedures

The example of replacement of an old technology for a new one is the reconstruction of a technological line in the Svrčovec quarry (in the new South-West Area), which is located near the town of Klatovy, in the nearest surrounding of the river Úhlava.

The new technology significantly eliminates air pollution, because all places that are considered to be potential sources of dust, like crushers, screens, conveyor belts, are in the new technological line covered an sealed off. They are fitted with sufficiently strong suction devices and with efficient spraying with small water consumption.

For reducing of other noise impact during stone processing, the line in the quarry of Svrčovec was fitted with modern quiet screens with plastic screening surface of a new generation, which are much more provident to the surrounding than the old screens with metal screening surface. Even the new installed crushers belong to the best and the most provident devices in their class. On this new technological line we use new computing automated systems for operating of our production. The next environmental load on the surrounding was dustiness and eventual way dirt in the loading area during loading of final products from the bins. This situation was solved with the use of a programmed loading belt device that is sheeted (covered) along its whole profile and it is fitted with an effective spraying device.

We spend quite big financial means on modernization of machinery devices in our sites. New machines and devices use the most up to date technologies that fit the rigid rules by means of emissions, noise and energy consumption. One of the examples of this effort is the total reconstruction of technological devices in the site of Chlum (East Area) in 2002. The most up to date machines and devices were integrated into the technological line to eliminate all these requirements as much as possible. All these exposed places, where emergence of dust threatens, were sheeted and fitted with dust reduction and spraying devices. All machines are secured against oil leakage.

Similar action has been recently started in the quarry of Košťálov, where the system of primary crushing will be completely modernized. This action will have been finished by the half of the year 2006.