RECLAMATION SUCCESS

Vulcan Materials Company provides essential infrastructure materials required by the U.S. economy. Vulcan is the nation’s leading producer of construction aggregates, primarily crushed stone, sand and gravel. The company’s Morongo Project, near Banning, California, received the U.S. Department of the Interior’s 2003 Hardrock Mineral Environmental Award. Vulcan received the award for its reclamation of a sand and gravel mining operation on the Morongo Indian Reservation in Riverside County. 

Vulcan’s Western Division President, Jim Smack, said, “Reclamation of Vulcan’s Morongo project demonstrated that by focusing on environmental and tribal concerns, using the best available revegetation techniques for native habitat restoration, and returning the land to a productive and viable secondary use, both the Morongo Band of Mission Indians and Vulcan Materials benefited. The Morongo Project team exemplified the commitment Vulcan has to the communities where we operate and reclaim. I am very proud that we have achieved national recognition for our commitment to environmental stewardship.” 

In her letter congratulating Vulcan, Director of the BLM Kathleen Clark said, “The panel recommended the Morongo Reclamation Project because of the way Vulcan Materials Company responded to Tribal concerns about mining in this sensitive area. The company actively engaged the Tribe and created a new reclamation plan . . . then you followed through on your promises.”