Quarry & Aggregates Dust Assessment
Specialist dust impact and monitoring consultants for quarries, aggregates and minerals operations across the UK. IAQM 2016 mineral extraction guidance, real-time PM10 networks, planning support and complaint investigation — by chartered environmentalists.
Mineral Extraction Dust — the Whole Lifecycle
Quarrying and aggregates extraction generates dust at every stage of the operation: drilling and blasting, primary and secondary crushing, screening and processing, stockpile handling, haul roads, and trackout to the public highway. Each of these activities has a distinct dust signature, and the IAQM 2016 guidance Guidance on the Assessment of Mineral Dust Impacts for Planning requires each to be assessed against site-specific receptor sensitivity to derive an overall risk class and mitigation schedule.
Mineral planning authorities almost always condition continuing dust monitoring for the life of the permission. The standard approach combines: real-time PM10 monitors (light-scattering or beta-attenuation) at the site boundary with telemetry to a live dashboard; Frisbee or Bergerhoff deposition gauges for monthly settled-dust assessment; and, where complaint history requires it, directional samplers to attribute dust to specific activities. Trigger levels are set in line with the planning conditions and breached values are flagged immediately to the site team.
Dust suppression is the heart of any quarry mitigation strategy. We help operators select between water bowsers and fixed sprinklers, design wheel-wash and rumble-grid arrangements at exit points, advise on enclosed processing plant versus bag filter/cyclone retrofits, and review blast design for stemming, delay timing and meteorological windows. For sites near villages, we have provided expert support to mediate between operator and community.
Malcolm Pounder CEnv MIAQM leads our minerals work, with field monitoring delivered by our trained technicians. We support new applications, ROMP submissions, periodic reviews, monitoring conditions and complaint investigations.
Our Minerals Dust Services
From the planning DIA at application stage through to monthly monitoring reports for the life of the permission.
IAQM 2016 Dust Impact Assessment
Full planning-stage Dust Impact Assessment to the IAQM 2016 mineral extraction guidance. Activity-by-activity risk classification (drilling, blasting, processing, haul road, stockpiling), receptor sensitivity mapping, mitigation schedule and recommended monitoring regime — suitable for new applications, ROMP and review of mineral permissions.
Real-Time PM10 Monitoring
Design, supply, install and operate site-boundary PM10 monitoring networks using light-scattering or beta-attenuation instruments, with mains/solar power options, telemetry to a live dashboard and SMS/email alerts when trigger levels are exceeded. Suitable for planning condition discharge and complaint investigation.
Deposition & Directional Sampling
Frisbee, Bergerhoff and DEFRA-style directional dust gauges for monthly settled-dust assessment and attribution to specific activities. We install, maintain, collect and laboratory-analyse the samples and provide monthly reports formatted for direct submission to the MPA.
Complaint Investigation & Mediation
Independent investigation of dust complaints from neighbours, with site visit, monitoring deployment and report. We work both for operators (defending against unfounded complaints) and for parish councils/residents (substantiating genuine ones), and bring a calm, evidence-led approach that helps reach a workable resolution.
Common Minerals Project Types
We work with aggregates operators, mineral planning consultants, local communities, parish councils and statutory consultees. Most of our minerals projects fall into one of the categories opposite.
Whatever the scale — a small sand-and-gravel borrow pit or a major hard-rock quarry — we have the technical depth and field experience to deliver.
- Hard-rock quarries (granite, limestone)
- Sand and gravel pits
- Building-stone quarries
- Aggregates extensions
- Recycled aggregates facilities
- Mineral safeguarding applications
- ROMP and periodic reviews
- Restoration/aftercare schemes
Frequently Asked Questions
Do quarries need a dust impact assessment?
Yes. All mineral extraction sites — quarries, open-cast workings, aggregates operations, sand and gravel pits — require dust impact assessment for the planning application (or for any review of an extant minerals permission), and most planning consents include continuing dust monitoring conditions for the life of the operation. The methodology is set out in the IAQM 2016 guidance "Guidance on the Assessment of Mineral Dust Impacts for Planning", and the assessment covers PM10, deposition and visible dust.
What is the IAQM mineral extraction guidance?
IAQM published "Guidance on the Assessment of Mineral Dust Impacts for Planning" in 2016 as the UK industry standard for quarrying and aggregates dust assessment. It uses a risk-based approach analogous to the construction dust guidance: dust generation potential of each activity (drilling, blasting, processing, haul road, stockpiling) is combined with receptor sensitivity and distance to give an overall risk class. The output is a tailored mitigation schedule and a monitoring regime that LPAs typically use as the basis for planning conditions.
How is dust monitored at a quarry?
Quarry dust monitoring typically uses a combination of: real-time PM10 monitors (light-scattering or beta-attenuation) at the site boundary close to the nearest sensitive receptors with telemetry to a dashboard for instant alerts; Frisbee or Bergerhoff deposition gauges for monthly settled-dust readings; and directional dust gauges (e.g. DEFRA-style Tea Bag samplers) to attribute dust to specific quarry activities. We design, install, commission and run these networks, set trigger levels in line with the planning conditions, and produce monthly reporting suitable for submission to the LPA.
What mitigation measures work for quarry dust?
Standard quarry dust mitigation includes water suppression on haul roads (bowsers and fixed sprinklers), wheel-wash and rumble-grids at exit points, enclosed processing plant (or fitted with bag filters/cyclones), stockpile shaping and watering, controlled blasting using millisecond delays and adequate stemming, vehicle speed limits on internal roads, and surfactant additives to water suppression for problematic dust. We tailor the mitigation schedule to the site-specific risk class identified in the IAQM 2016 assessment, and revise it through monitoring as the operation progresses.
What does a quarry dust assessment cost?
A planning-stage IAQM 2016 dust impact assessment for a typical aggregates quarry is fixed-fee and very competitive with national consultancies. Continuing monitoring is priced separately as a monthly or quarterly service. For larger or more complex sites — restored mineral workings, mineral safeguarding applications, or sites near villages — fees scale with the monitoring network size and reporting frequency. Send us the site details and we'll come back to you the same working day with a fixed-fee quote.