Future of quarries
Quarry under exploitation
Prior to being exploited, quarries in Burgundy are subjected to strict regulations. First, a plan of restoration once exploitation has ceased, must be included in the initial file of request for authorization.
In the past, due to poor management of this fundamental condition, considerable damage was done to the general landscape. Today, quarry restoration is highly regulated and supervised, coming under the sector of « Installations classed for environmental protection » obliging those concerned to take into account environmental risks linked to the exploitation of quarries.
The departmental map of quarries is an essential tool outlining major directions to consider for the restoration of a quarry. Although each quarry is unique - as are the conditions of its eventual renovation - these directions allow a quarryman to state the solution he forsees for the rehabilitation of an exploited quarry in the impact study of his dossier.
Respect for environment and protected areas
« Quarry exploitation is an industrial activity that impacts the environment. The departmental plan distinguishes 3 sectors (taken from the Departmental map of quarries of the Cote d'Or, DRIRE Burgundy):
Exploitation must be prohibited
Exploitation possible under certain conditions
Exploitation possible given that fact that types of nuisance, plus means of transport, extraction and rehabilitation are respectfully regulated. »
Protected zones are: classed sites, protected forests, biotopes (ecological niches insuring stable living conditions for a species of flora or fauna), natural reserves, archaeological sites, sources of drinking water...
For further information consult the DRIRE Bourgogne website.
Examples of quarry rehabilitation
Quarry turned into an outdoor theater
Ecological area, fishing reserve, water reserve, leisure sports centre, camping area, fish farming, park, sports area, forest, fruit tree plantation, agricultural zone, sylviculture, constructible zone, depocentre (possible within regulatory limitations).
Note another example in Burgundy: an outdoor theater arranged in an old quarry whose configuration permitted the creation of natural benches oriented toward a stage.
Non-rehabilitated quarries
Before regulations were established certain quarries were not required to be restored to their original state. Unfortunately, it is too late to impose restoration for these cases today. However, on the brighter side, some abandonned quarries serve as a refuge for thriving colonies of fauna and flora.
Today, quarrymen are subject to strict regulations aimed not only to protect the local biodiversity but to render the environment that Nature so generously lends, as close to its original state as possible.