Last fall, the British Columbia Technical and Research Committee on Reclamation (TRCR) presented their annual awards at the TRCR’s 47th annual Mine Reclamation Symposium in Burnaby, BC.

The gravel contractor, R.E. Postill and Sons, was presented with the Sand and Gravel Category Award for the Rosebush Land Improvement Project at Coldstream Ranch in the North Okanagan. The project involved gravel extraction from a 68-hectare site on the ranch in the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR). During and after extraction, the area has been reclaimed with a soil material created by mixing fine sand with saved topsoil and composted manure and planted to provide forage for the ranch’s beef cattle operations. Reclamation greatly improved the agricultural capability by reducing the slope, increasing soil organic matter and water holding capacity, and adding 9.5 hectares of new farmland that is now cultivated.

Associated Environmental had a large role on this long-term project that required great foresight and accurate planning to complete. We are proud of our work and it was exciting to finally see it come together. A number of our agrologists worked on this project from 1995 through to completion. We provided advisory to the ranch and the gravel contractor on the Agricultural Land Commission process and completed annual land balance summaries and reporting to the Commission on the ranch’s behalf. Through this work we have maintained a great relationship with the ranch and have an excellent reference for one of our many projects in the ALR.

During the 30-year life of the Rosebush Land Improvement Project, Postill has extracted, processed, and sold 4.07 million tonnes of gravel and replaced it with clean fill from various job sites around Vernon.

The TRCR originated in the early 1970s in response to a demonstrated need in the British Columbia mining sector for greater government-industry communication in the area of environmental protection and reclamation. Membership is drawn from industry, provincial and federal government agencies, exploration and mining associations, and universities and colleges.

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