18 September 2001

Today, I've been learning about how to estimate air pollution emissions from rock crushing and other activities that you'd find in a gravel pit or quarry. Why? (You ask.)

Well, at work, we're doing a few projects for people who take material out of the ground, process it a bit, then sell it to people as gravel, concrete, asphalt, or what-have-you. One project is for a company that wants to start a landfill. The project I was working on today is for a company in Texas that has a hot mix asphalt plant, a concrete batch plant, several crushing lines (including one that recycles concrete), quarrying operations, and many other processes.

They want us to figure out how much particulate matter (dust) is emitted from their facility, located on a hillside near El Paso. Click here for more information on how to calculate such things.

DWL