February 4, 2010

Long-distance aggregate trucking a major issue in British Columbia

JEAN SORENSEN

correspondent

VANCOUVER

All levels of government need to work together to ensure that aggregate operations remain as close to population bases as possible if sustainability issues such as LEED standards in buildings and green house gas (GHG) reductions are to occur, construction industry associations say.

Aggregate is a major item in infrastructure construction.

“Sixty to 65 per cent annual consumption of aggregate or aggregate product is by federal, provincial and municipal governments,” said Paul Allard, executive director of the Aggregate Producers Association of B.C.

“Aggregate is 93 per cent of ready-mix and it can be higher in other products.”

He added that the impact of aggregate in producing a green environment is not insignificant.

“We in B.C. consume 52 –55 million metric tonnes per annum. If the population of B.C. is at four million, then we consume approximately 13 – 13.5 metric tonnes per man woman child in the province,” he said.

“Approximately half the population is located in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.”

A memorandum of understanding was signed in mid-December between the aggregate producers and the Fraser Valley Regional District and some of the surrounding municipalities, which set out color coded areas as outlined in the Fraser Valley Aggregate Pilot Project.

Red, yellow, and green codes (similar to a traffic light) designate where aggregate development is possible.

The project has municipalities designate these areas in their community plans.

But, despite the progress made by the association, some municipalities don’t have any aggregate pits located in their boundaries.

“There are none in Vancouver, Surrey, Langley, Tsawwassen and Delta,” said Allard.

“Where the majority of the population is located, there is no source. Material has to be trucked or barged in.

“You have to consider that for every litre of diesel fuel, there are 2.8 kilos of GHG emissions created.”

That figure is further compounded by having to mine aggregate at one source and process it at another.

The shorter distance that the aggregate, concrete, cement, asphalt or other aggregate materials are hauled for any purpose leads to reduced GHG emissions.

Roadbuilders in B.C. also want gravel pits kept nearby.

“We are working with the provincial government to make sure municipalities don’t close operations or lose the opportunity to create new gravel pits. Municipalities tend not to want gravel pits in their backyard, but that makes any project that much less green,” said Jack Davidson, president of the B.C. Road Builders and Heavy Construction Association.

Gravel pits are governed by the B.C. Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources.

However it is municipalities that provide the regulatory jurisdiction for crushing, screening, and transporting materials.

As Lower Mainland municipalities have experienced growth, their residential areas have been further creeping into quarry locations causing conflicts.

Recently, Pitt Meadows residents met in November to protest the expansion of the LaFarge’s 55-hectare gravel pit by another 16 hectares, extending the life by 10 years.

“Our costs associated with building roads today are mostly energy costs,” said Davidson.

That cost is seen in many forms, such as crushing the rock (most quarry crushers have gone to electrical power over diesel now, as it is cleaner), processing the materials into product, trucking it to a site or processing plant, or, rolling it onto the roadway.

The less distance between the source, processing, and final application, the less GHG produced, said Davidson.

Allard said there is also a significant financial cost to development, when material is not located near the source.

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