Mid-States Materials LLC, a division of Bettis Companies based in Topeka, Kan., received the 2022 Outstanding Mined Land Reclamation Award (Non-Coal) from the National Association of State Land Reclamationists (NASLR) for conservation efforts at Plummer Creek Quarry in Scranton, Kan. This is the second time Mid-States has won this national award, a testament to their reclamation proclamation of protecting and preserving our environment.
Plummer Creek Quarry reclamation efforts included erosion control, gradual grading of slopes, and final vegetation to turn the 100-acre piece of the quarry into a productive agricultural asset. Calling it a true testament to the long-term reclamation and stewardship efforts at Plummer Creek Quarry, the NASLR Board of Officers gave special commendation to the construction of the wetland that intercepts the agricultural runoff from adjacent fields.
“We continuously strive to be the model for the industry. Extracting the resources for growth here in the present, to provide a thriving future when we leave,” said Nick Jackson, environmental specialist with Mid-States Materials.
The NASLR Mined Land Reclamation Award was established to recognize companies and individuals who achieve outstanding and exemplary achievements in the reclamation of mined land, as well as promote the awareness and exchange of information for quality reclamation and environmental stewardship.
Mid-States Materials was given consideration for this award after winning the 2021 Kansas Governor’s Mined Land Reclamation Award by the Division of Conservation, Kansas Department of Agriculture, earlier this year. Previous Reclamation Awards received by Mid-States Materials, LLC, include:
Governor’s Mined Land Reclamation Award:
- 2011 – Big Springs Quarry (Lecompton, Kan.)
- 2013 – Big Springs Quarry (Lecompton, Kan.) – Phase II
- 2017 – Big Springs Quarry (Lecompton, Kan.) – Phase III
- 2021 – Plummer Creek Quarry (Scranton, Kan.)
NASLR Outstanding Mined Land Reclamation Award (Non-Coal):
- 2018 – Big Springs Quarry (Lecompton, Kan.)
- 2022 – Plummer Creek Quarry (Scranton, Kan.) – Current Year’s Award.
“Special recognition to Nick Jackson and Buck Crumley at Mid-States on the delivery of the industry-leading Plummer Creek Quarry project and to all the Mid-States employees who helped restore the land. Mid-States Materials’ continued reclamation practices allow us to partner with communities far and wide while maintaining Kansas’s rich and beautiful spaces,” the company stated.
Considerations for the following items are made in awarding this recognition according to the website for the National Association of State Land Reclamationists:
- Compliance: How the operator or individual exceeded the spirit and intent of the law, the degree of effort and innovation within the respective guidelines and requirements.
- Contemporaneous: Techniques, time limits and distance limitation during simultaneous reclamation and mining activities and the difficulties in achieving reclamation under such conditions.
- Drainage: Design, maintenance, and technologies employed resulting in effective and efficient water quality treatment for environmental benefits and cost savings for the operator.
- Post-Mining Land Use: Success of vegetation and erosion control, the degree to which post-mining land use has been established, consideration of innovative land use planning, and site stability.
- Innovative Practices: Creative development and application of new technologies or techniques in resolving reclamation problems or promote cost savings during reclamation and providing long-term benefits to the surrounding community and environment and increase in awareness of the law.
Formed in 1979 as a family-owned hot mix asphalt paving and maintenance operation, The Bettis Group of Companies today includes Bettis Asphalt & Construction Inc., Mid-States Materials LLC, Capital Trucking LLC, Bettis Contractors Inc., Capital Crane LLC, Harbour Construction Inc., Koss Construction Co., Midwest Pavement Grinding LLC and PTMW Inc.