Rock Products recently featured KBDJ’s dry dust-suppression system in its July 2011 publication. Click on the link above to read the article.

“The safety of our employees, contractors, and neighbors is of utmost importance to KBDJ,” said Jill Shackelford, president of KBDJ. “It’s important that the community know we run an extremely safe operation. We’re very appreciative of MSHA’s recognition.”

This is the second Sentinels of Safety Award that KBDJ has won.

KBDJ’s 23,421 employee-hours without a lost-workday injury equates to more than four years without experiencing even a minor injury. KBDJ’s plant engineer, Lenny Bobrowski, credits weekly safety meetings held every Friday and frank discussions about accidents that have occurred at other facilities around the country.

“The whole crew operates with a keen sense of awareness about safety,” said Bobrowski. “We all realize that more than anything we want to get home to our families at the end of the day. I’m really proud of the team — they’ve earned this award.”

KBDJ posts MSHA inspection reports on its website and has received numerous perfect scores on its inspections. In 2007, one inspector wrote, “This inspection was an excellent one. The company was in compliance at the plant and with all records.”

Bridge Point Elementary students plant wildflower seeds at KBDJ. Photo courtesy of Bruce Fisher.

“This is the third straight year we’ve hosted Bridge Point and it just keeps getting better,” said Jill Shackelford, president of KBDJ. “The kids were so excited and energetic and they asked excellent questions.”

One difference this year from past field trips is that the students actually went into the mine on a charter bus. On the quarry floor is where most of the operation takes place; boulders are moved from the quarry walls to the covered rock crusher, where they are broken into smaller rocks that are eventually sold as base material or aggregates for the construction of roads, homes and commercial buildings. Industrial Asphalt is currently mining the site and providing aggregates and asphalt to State Highway 130.

Students actually went into the quarry to study the rock being mined. Photo courtesy of Bruce Fisher.

Judging by thank you notes from the students, the experience was a big hit.

“This was one of the best field trips of my life,” wrote Daniel. “My favorite station was the quarry ride because I liked (seeing) the dump trucks dump rocks into the crusher.”

Emily added, “it was so cool plant flowers, see the truck dump the rock and learn about rock. Thank you for all the work you do to help the earth.”

This is the third straight year that KBDJ has hosted fourth graders from Bridge Point. Photo courtesy of Bruce Fisher.

KBDJ, LP is a certified wildlife habitat conservation site by the internationally-recognized Wildlife Habitat Council. The company’s employees and community partners conduct numerous environmental projects throughout the year to preserve and protect the open space surrounding KBDJ’s active mining operation. KBDJ also offers its site as an outdoor classroom to schools and professional organizations seeking to study the Texas Hill Country.

In recent years, KBDJ has won numerous awards including the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce’s 2010 Take on Traffic Award, the Texas Aggregates and Concrete Association’s 2009 Good Neighbor Award and Pit & Quarry Magazine’s 2008 Producer of the Year Award.

For a full slideshow of the event produced by photographer Bruce Fisher, please click here and type “limestone” into the password.

“Wildflowers beautify our site and enhance the native landscape,” said KBDJ president Jill Shackelford. “We enjoy seeing new flowers appear with each new growing season. What a year it has been for Texas wildflowers!”

Last year, KBDJ planted live oak trees in front of the quarry entrance with the help of a group of middle school students from Grace Academy in Georgetown and Hays County Commissioner Karen Ford. KBDJ frequently hosts field trips of the quarry for fourth graders – the state’s fourth grade science curriculum closely matches the lessons in geology taught at the quarry – where students are encouraged to spread wildflower seeds. The quarry also holds an annual Christmas tree drive; each January, neighbors may dispose of live trees that KBDJ will submerge in a pond on site to create fish habitat.

KBDJ is a certified wildlife habitat conservation site recognized by the Wildlife Habitat Council, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring and enhancing wildlife habitat.

Ridge Shackelford, son of KBDJ owners Jill and Sam Shackelford at the quarry during a November 2009 field trip.

Liam Ziaja shows off the rocks he gathered at KBDJ quarry.

KBDJ, a Hays County limestone quarry (www.haysquarry.com), on Nov. 24 became an outdoor classroom for about 120 fourth graders from Bridgepoint Elementary School in Eanes ISD.

“Jello is made out of rock!” said student Rebecca Quilkey after learning that limestone not only is used to build roads, but can be found in many other everyday items and food.

This is the second year the school has taken a field trip to the site.

“The kids love it because it is so hands-on and they get to see the rock quarry,” said teacher Susan Bigham. In class, the students have been learning about the Edwards Aquifer and its recharge zone, which includes the quarry land, she said.

According to KBDJ President Jill Shackelford, “We love to educate the students on the importance of mining and the environment. We like to use this site as an outdoor classroom and let them get hands-on with what they have been learning in the classroom. This shows that mining and conservation can coexist.”

Student field trips to the site helped KBDJ win certification earlier in November as a Corporate Lands for Learning program by the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) (www.wildlifehc.org). Since June 2007, KBDJ has hosted educators and schoolchildren and conducted environmental programs and projects at the quarry site. Previously, WHC in 2008 recognized KBDJ and its parent company for creating a Wildlife at Work program.

While at the site, the Bridgepoint Elementary students donned hard hats and gazed into the quarry pit; examined native habitat and planted wildflower seeds with the assistance of Hill Country Conservancy staff; learned about air quality and the Edward’s Aquifer from representatives of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality; and looked into a cave, one of the sensitive geographic features located on the site, with help from a Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District staff member.

The students also enjoyed a pizza lunch and were allowed to gather samples of the rock quarried on the site to take home, along with a goodie bag that included a T-shirt and rock identification kit

“I think that it was pretty cool that I got to get my own rock,” said student Amanda Elswick. “I hope we get to come back next year because it’s a really cool place to come to.”

Grace Academy student Faith Thomas, parent Jean Tandy and student Jonathan Tandy plant a live oak tree at KBDJ quarry.

“What better way to celebrate Earth Day than by getting a little dirty?” said KBDJ President Jill Shackelford. “KBDJ is thrilled that Grace Academy traveled to the quarry to learn more about the local environment and take an active role in improving it.”

During the field trip, the students also got an up-close look at a working rock quarry and saw the steps KBDJ has taken to protect the environment and wildlife on the quarry site.

“I thought it was just going to be a rock quarry,” said eighth grader Kristen Klein. “It’s much more than that.”

Added Ashton Murphy, who is in ninth grade, “We’re currently studying the age of the Earth in school, so the quarry pit allowed us to see the different layers and colors of the Edwards limestone formations.”

Hays County Commissioner Karen Ford (center) joined students from Grace Academy in Georgetown and KBDJ quarry owners for an Earth Day tree and flower planting event at KBDJ.

Hays County Commissioner Karen Ford, also a member of the Clean Air Force of Central Texas, visited the event to encourage the students and to give them information on regional efforts to ensure Central Texans breathe clean air.

“We’re working very hard to get the word out about what people can do to keep the air clean,” Ford told the students. “Trees help clean the air, so thank you for being here.”

With help from quarry staff and a backhoe donated by Texana Machinery, the students planted three live oak trees, which they named “Grace,” “Faith” and “Love,” at the quarry entrance along FM 967. The trees came from the tree farm at Texas Disposal Systems, and KBDJ worked with the Hill Country Conservancy to pick the appropriate type of tree to plant.

Students also planted a mix of wildflowers at the quarry site, which included Black-eyed Susan, Mexican Hat, Prairie Coneflower, Indian Blanket, Lemon Mint, Bluebonnet, Plains Coreopsis and Clasping Coneflower.

The field trip was part of KBDJ’s commitment to education and the environment. Similar student field trips and other projects led to KBDJ in November 2008 receiving habitat certification and international recognition for its contributions to wildlife habitat conservation from the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) (www.wildlifehc.org).

Since July 2007, KBDJ (www.haysquarry.com) has implemented a number of wildlife enhancement projects on-site in order to earn the WHC certification, including installing bat houses, recycling Christmas trees to create new fish habitat, hosting a field trip for environmental educators and welcoming to the site members of the Hill Country Conservancy’s Emerging Professionals in Conservation.