Carmeuse Americas owns and operates several quarries in Northern Michigan, a sparsely populated area of great natural beauty. At times, our quarry operations will deplete or interfere with wetlands, a natural habitat for a rich variety of wildlife and vegetation. In order to minimize our impact on the environment, Carmeuse both creates new wetlands and commits to preserves existing wetlands.
The State of Michigan requires that for each acre of wetlands impacted by mining, Carmeuse must either agree to preserve 10 acres of existing wetlands or create 1.5 to 2 acres of wetlands, (depending upon the nature of the impacted wetlands).
The creation of wetlands is a complicated process which involves, among other things, moving topsoil, overburden sloping and planting vegetation. Our Michigan sites work closely with the State of Michigan to ensure the proper creation of wetlands.
Over the past couple of years, our Northern Michigan quarries have created over 100 acres of new wetlands and have committed to preserve over 1,000 acres of existing wetlands. The local operations team has also created a detailed plan for future creation and preservation of wetlands. The plan will enable the quarries to continue to operate far into the future, supplying our customers with essential products for construction, steel and other industries, all while ensuring that Carmeuse behaves in an environmentally responsible manner protecting the local plant and animal life.
