MONITORING FOR MINERAL FIBERS IN AGGREGATE MINING

The National Stone, Sand and Gravel (NSSGA) Mineral Identification and Management Guide (“Identification Guide”) provides a range of investigatory tools with which to assess whether asbestiform mineral fibers are present on a quarry site. In certain regions of the United States, including areas where a company operates in the construction materials business, igneous and/or metamorphic rocks are quarried for aggregate. This includes operations where sand and gravel deposits, derived primarily from such igneous or metamorphic parent materials, are being mined. Some igneous and metamorphic rock materials have the potential to contain, as minor constituents, asbestiform minerals. Six of these asbestiform minerals are currently regulated as asbestos by the US EPA, MSHA, and OSHA because of their proven health risks. The Identification Guide goes beyond these six minerals and includes additional asbestiform minerals that NSSGA has elected to treat as equivalent in risk. The mineralogical properties of asbestos and a list of the regulated mineral fibers and the additional asbestiform minerals covered by this Identification Guide (hereinafter referred to as “protocol mineral fibers”) are described.

This Identification Guide applies to designated mining sites where there is a potential that protocol mineral fibers may exist. It is designed to determine: 1. The presence or absence of asbestiform minerals in the rock materials 2. The mineralogy of any asbestiform material, to ascertain the health and regulatory impact 3. The quantity and distribution of any protocol mineral fibers 4. Based on the foregoing analysis, what steps, if any, should be taken, which may include modification in the area of the property where mining occurs and/or implementation of air sampling, increased settled dust sampling, employee training, product sampling, or a visual identification plan, etc.

This presentation will outline this monitoring process for aggregate mines.