The Roanoke Cement Co. Troutville cement plant in Troutville, Va., received the Overall Environmental Excellence Award from the Portland Cement Association (PCA) and Cement Americas magazine as part of the 2014 Cement Industry Energy and Environment Awards.
The Overall Environmental Excellence Award recognizes a cement facility that demonstrates excellence in several or each of the judged categories. The Troutville plant was also a runner-up in the Outreach category. The Outreach category recognizes facilities that strive to enhance community, employee, and government relations through innovative communications and programs.
In June 2013, Roanoke Cement Co. announced that they earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star certification for the seventh consecutive year. The award recognizes that the facility performs in the top 25 percent of similar facilities nationwide.
The Troutville plant is dedicated to environmental stewardship at the plant and in the local community. The plant adopted the Catawba Creek that runs through the property. For the last eight years the Troutville plant has dedicated a Catawba Creek Clean Up day, dedicated to collecting and disposing of waste collected around the stream.
With the expansion of the plants east limestone quarry the Troutville plant allotted 98 acres of its land as a riparian buffer, to enhance and preserve the Catawba Creek water quality. Along with constructing two miles of cattle exclusion fencing 200 ft. from the bank, and localized stream bank grading to the original contour of the land, more than 16,000 native shrub and trees will be planted on a two-mile stretch of the creek.
The Troutville plant understands and embraces its obligation to continuously lower energy consumption as it endeavors to be leaders in sustainability and environmental stewardship within the cement industry. Initiatives for achieving future energy reductions include: reducing or eliminating the use of inefficient or unnecessary lighting, maximizing the use of alternative fuels and targeting other cooling fans as candidates for VFD upgrades.
Additionally, in 2013 the Troutville plant was recognized for their commendable wildlife habitat management and environmental education programs by The Wildlife Council’s Corporate Wildlife Habitat Certification/International Accreditation Program.
The Energy & Environmental Awards honor individual cement facilities that exemplify the spirit of continuous environmental improvement and support this spirit with action. These plants go beyond government regulations and local laws to ensure that their processes contribute to making their communities better places to live and work. Five categories are recognized: Outreach, Environmental Performance, Land Stewardship, Innovation and Energy Efficiency. Additionally, PCA presents a special honor to a plant demonstrating excellence in multiple categories.
