Walker Aggregates Honoured with Industry Awards

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OSSGApicWalker Aggregates has been honoured with five prestigious industry achievement awards from the Ontario Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (OSSGA). The awards were recently presented at the OSSGA’s 2017 Annual Conference in Ottawa.

The Walker Brothers Quarries in Niagara Falls and the Vineland Quarries in Lincoln each received a Community Relations award.

The Community Relations Award recognizes quarries that have demonstrated leadership in promoting good neighbour relations, community involvement, education and industry awareness.

Walker’s McGregor Quarry, located in the Town of Amherstburg was presented with 3 awards, Community Relations, Progressive Rehabilitation and Property Enhancement.

The Progressive Rehabilitation Award recognizes ongoing efforts of individual operators in progressively rehabilitating their sites in accordance with their site plans.

The Property Enhancement Award recognizes operational best practices under seven categories; site’s entrance, approach and perimeter screening; office and scale-house areas; employee areas; plant appearance; environmental controls; truck and mobile equipment; and communicative signage. For each category, the proponent must demonstrate and prove they met all the criteria and have exceeded industry practices to be eligible for a gold bar. The McGregor Quarry received a gold bar for each of the above requirements, which is a testament of the hard work and dedication of the entire staff as this award usually takes years to complete.

“I’m extremely honoured to be receiving these awards on behalf of the employees of these three quarries,” says Walker Aggregates executive vice-president Ken Lucyshyn. “Our employees host neighbourhood events, support community charities, ensure the property is clean and environmentally safe, and work to rehabilitate the mined-out areas of the quarries. I’m very proud of the work they do.”

“We encourage our members to be sound stewards of the lands on which they operate, and to be engaged and valued members of their community,” said Norm Cheesman, executive director of the OSSGA. “All of the award winners have met and exceeded those expectations.”

The OSSGA is a non-profit industry association representing more than 280 sand, gravel and crushed stone producers and suppliers of valuable industry products and services. Collectively, the members produce a large majority of the approximately 164 million tonnes of aggregate consumed annually on average in the province to build and maintain Ontario’s infrastructure. The OSSGA works in partnership with government and the public to promote a safe and competitive aggregate industry, contributing to the creation of strong communities in the province.