It is not true that the operation of the quarries in Nuevo León threatens the majesty of its mountains, the reality is that the growing pollution that the metropolitan area is experiencing is largely caused by the development of new homes around the quarries, the urban sprawl has reached the quarry area. Urbanism responds to population growth but not to the safety of its inhabitants.
In Nuevo León, the socially and environmentally responsible quarries are part of the Association of Limestone Extractors of Nuevo León (La ASEC) QUARRIES IN NUEVO LEON.
All ASEC member companies operate in full legality and in collaboration with the Government of NL: we pay green taxes, we respond to the guidelines of the Quality and Environment Standards and are part of the Governing Council for the development of PIGECA in collaboration with Clean Air Institute, Government of NL, Academy, Private Initiative and Civil Society.
What are the quarries in Nuevo León and what is their importance in sustainable development?
It is no coincidence that Monterrey was founded in the center of a spring and in the center of a basin surrounded by imposing mountains. From this point a Great City began to be born.
It is a good thing that Monterrey has these mountains to take advantage of nature’s resources to supply the necessary materials for the construction of progress (homes, institutions, companies, roads, bridges…)
Having quarries close to the city is a great benefit to reduce transportation costs and have the availability of quality oil materials at a short distance. When trying to relocate the quarries outside of Monterrey, other hills will be impacted, prices will increase and the high cost of a project of such magnitude will impact the final cost of new homes and construction materials, as well as stop offering employment to thousands of people who They live in the metropolitan area.
What are the quarries? Basically they are limestone deposits. Las Pedreras have positioned Nuevo León as the most important state in the cement industry worldwide, dozens of wagons of cement are exported to the United States per day, generating income for businessmen of more than approximately One Billion Pesos per year. The quarries in Nuevo León are the companies that bring value, capital and progress to the state!
Every time poor air quality is reported or there is a press conference on the environment in Nuevo León, the quarries of NL are the protagonists in the voice of the Government of Nuevo León since for decades and in a cultural way it has been communityd from government to government, without substantiating these claims with facts, data or evidence.
The reality is that the quarries in Nuevo León are the least polluting today. The particles that arise during the entire limestone extraction and crushing process are PM 2.5 and PM10, but they are so heavy that they remain inside or on radar for a few kilometers around the quarry.
To mitigate this, each quarry has committed to following:
- Wetting conveyor belts with extracted or crushed material
- Humidification in paths inside the plant
- Installation of Air Quality Monitor
- Arborization inside plants
- Develop Social Responsibility and Environment programs to cover issues of relationship with neighboring communities, attention to environmental requirements, safety and health for all employees and above all: innovate to produce more, polluting less.
According to the “Management Program to Improve the Air Quality of the State of Nuevo León, PRO AIRE 2016-2025”, fixed sources of the sector for the use of mineral resources and substances not reserved for the federation are considered as the second source of contribution to the Metropolitan Area of the City of Monterrey.
Why do the hills look like this? Because every quarry, all over the world, looks like this. Throughout the world limestone is extracted from hills or mountains, from there many things are produced that we all need and use from the construction industry, food, transport, articles, etc…
In the case of Nuevo León, the deterioration is visible since the quarries of Nuevo León are located within an urban area and as the inhabitants pass by in front of the quarries, the cutting of slabs on the hill for the extraction of stone is visible. stone for the demand of block makers, cement workers and farmers…..
Did you know that all the quarries in Nuevo León have a determined time of operation? Upon completion of these operations, each quarry is responsible for complying with its site remediation program.
What are the main emitters of air pollution in Nuevo León?
What we must understand first and not fall for the publicity tricks of politicians in the face of unfounded environmental complaints is that: The contributions of the different sources of air pollution vary widely between cities.
The quarries in Nuevo León only emit particulate matter (PM 2.5), they do not emit CO2 or other pollutants that keep the sky of Nuevo León polluted.
What are PM2.5? It is the breathable particulate material present in the atmosphere of our cities in solid or liquid form (dust, ash, soot, metallic particles, cement and pollen, among others) and can be divided, according to its size, into two main groups.
So, to improve air quality, knowledge of the sources and locations of air pollutant emissions is critical. We should all know that air pollution is the single greatest risk to environmental health worldwide.
And we must all measure how individually we contribute to this pollution that is killing us (if your car is in good condition and does not pollute, if as a director of a company you demand compliance with environmental regulations, if as a government you re-invest the collection of green taxes on high-impact projects to improve air quality, if as a family you make low-carbon decisions, if as a benchmark in the industry you promote being responsible)
Without a doubt, the quarries in Nuevo León contribute to the emission of particles due to the extraction and crushing of limestone, but without a doubt the concentrations of particles that reach the inhabitants directly and in large quantities come from:
- Works (construction of buildings, houses, roads…)
- Transportation of material (material exposed on the route)
- Diesel Vehicle Emissions
- Dusters that shake the particles to the closure from vacant lots, open spaces with earth or gravel, etc…
CASE OF LAS PEDRERAS
The quarries are the industry that Governor Samuel García criticizes the most:
In 2017 he mentioned: WE ARE GOING TO GET LAS PEDRERAS OUT OF THE CITY YES OR YES. The interest of 40 companies should not be above + 4 million New Leonese. THE ONE WHO POLLUTES PAYS AND POINT.
But: What is the cost of removing the quarries? How unsustainable is it to remove the quarries in Nuevo León? Are they really the ones that pollute the air in NL? Why did the urban sprawl reach the quarries? What will happen when the urban sprawl reaches the new location of the quarries, if they are relocated? Isn’t it better to make every company a partner company in a comprehensive social responsibility program?
In October 2022, Samuel presumes that he has already brought the quarries to heel, but the quarries in Nuevo León have directed efforts and invested millions of pesos towards a clean industry for almost 10 years.
This is going to be noticed in the reduction of pollution, that we are attacking it from all sides, we no longer allow there to be wealth at the expense of the environment, we have already brought the quarries to heel, we have already made Pemex invest in filters and in reduce its toxins. Now the cars follow, and obviously by modernizing the entire fleet of trucks, we are going to have the largest fleet of electric trucks in Mexico, and by betting on public transport, pollution is definitely going to have to go down, and we are going to have a clean air, as established by the new Constitution.
Regarding the quarries in Nuevo León, we can say that now they are the least problem due to poor air quality in Monterrey.
