Mining company noted for environmental stewardship

~ Unimin Corp. has been active in creating wildlife habitat in Alexander County, Illinois.

TAMMS, Ill. -- Public perception of the mining industry in regard to the environment is often negative. But Unimin Corp.'s Tamms/Elco Plant, which mines and processes microcrystal silica on 2,000 acres in Alexander County, is routinely lauded for its conservation programs that were started in 1996.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich declared Feb. 11 as Unimin Corporate Conservation Awareness Day. The plant received international recognition for wildlife habitat conservation when the Wildlife Habitat Council awarded it the Corporate Habitat of the Year Award in 2002 and 2005. The plant received certification from the WHC in 1998.

"Since its founding in 1970, our corporation has had a pro-environment, pro-community relations mindset," said plant manager Siebert Cowley. "Hiking, fishing, hunting, camping, bird watching are some of the outdoor activities miners enjoy."

Eight years ago, 18 volunteers and employees formed a wildlife team to manage 2,000 acres of habitat for a variety of wildlife species ranging from the threatened timber rattlesnake to an endangered species of bat. The team sought advice from wildlife biologists at the WHC and state and federal biologists.

"A wildlife habitat project can be as simple as placing treetops in a remote area," Cowley said. "As a mining company, we always encounter brush and tree tops. We were surprised at how fast wildlife set up home there."

Rick Fox, safety, health and quality supervisor at Tamms/Elco Plant, said another habitat project involved was erecting 42 bluebird nesting boxes at various sites. Fox said a formal count of bluebirds has not been taken, but "a significant increase in the number of bluebirds has obviously resulted."

Fox said an ongoing project is the elimination of fescue grass from plant sites and replacing the ground cover with wildflowers, which creates habitat for butterflies and songbirds.

"Our plan specifies adding an acre of wildflowers each year," Fox said. "It was a learning experience. ... We researched seed mixtures and matching them to the soil type and moisture requirements. More recently, we've planted several acres of sunflowers."

The wildlife team considered how overgrown and neglected loblolly pine stands could be enhanced as habitat for eastern whitetail deer and wild turkey. The team consulted Illinois Department of Natural Resources biologists to develop a plan. Many loblolly pines were harvested and sold to a nearby paper mill. The proceeds were used to buy lime, fertilizer and seeds for eight food plots.

Fox said the wildlife team has constructed nine ponds ranging in size from less than an acre to three acres. He said each of the ponds have been stocked with game fish and provided with wood duck nesting boxes. Also, as part of a community relations project, the wildlife team refurbished a neighbor's pond by stocking it with assorted fish species chosen by the landowner.

When the wildlife team became aware the IDNR was working on a program to eradicate kudzu in Southern Illinois, the Tamms/Elco Plant offered the use of its 20-acre kudzu-infested site for experimentation with various herbicides.

"Since kudzu provides little for wildlife and the aggressive plant was a threat to the entire area's forested lands, the project was an excellent fit for our wildlife habitat program," said Fox, adding the program is in its fourth year and about 80 percent of the kudzu has been eradicated. In its place, corn and soybeans are planted annually, which provides year-round food for wildlife.

While the company helped eradicate an unwanted plant, it helped to protect state-threatened timber rattlesnakes. During a survey of a 340-acre site, the wildlife team discovered some timber rattlesnakes. Because of the snakes' vulnerability when crossing roads, the team closed public access to the area as an initial form of protection. Information signs about the snakes were posted on rural roads in the area in an effort to educate the public about avoiding unnecessary killing of snakes during road crossings.

"We also help to rescue and remove nuisance rattlesnakes from people's yards," Fox said. "Last year we rescued several pregnant snakes from a landowner's yard, and we ended up with 36 rattlesnakes. We placed them in a protected area where we thought they could survive."

Fox and Cowley said the wildlife team's most extensive project to date has been the protection of the federally endangered Indiana bat. They said a large population of Indiana bats are living in abandoned underground silica mines that were actively mined from the early 1900s until 1983. One mine is believed to be home to about 30,000 Indiana bats.

About eight years ago, when the wildlife team began activities to protect habitat for migratory hibernating bats, team members launched a program to counter the public's general perception of bats.

A student volunteer developed a bat education program titled "Have Bat, Will Travel." For many years, the program was presented to school-aged children, church groups, Scouts, civic organizations and at special events sponsored by the University of Illinois, USDA Forest Service and Unimin Corp. The program is still presented to high school students.

"Favorable environmental publicity is relatively new to the mining industry," Cowley said. "Unimin's environmental stewardship and the awards to the Tamms/Elco site will go a long way in changing the public's perception of our industry for the future."

Photo by Lynda Richardson of Baltimore, Md.

The international Wildlife Habitat Council recently awarded its 2005 Corporate Habitat of the Year Award to Unimin Corp.'s Tamms/Elco Plant. From the left were Gary Slusher of Unimin Corp.; Dr. Timothy Carter of Southern Illinois University; Siebert Cowley, plant manager at Tamms/Elco; and Rick Fox, safety, health and quality supervisor at Tamms/Elco. The award was presented at a symposium in Baltimore, Md.