By Trish Svoboda

McCoy Rock Quarry was honored with the 2023 Governor’s Mined Land Reclamation Award at the Kansas Aggregate Producers Association meeting in Manhattan on January 11, 2024.

This award acknowledges outstanding efforts in implementing mined land reclamation and promoting a positive image of mining in Kansas. McCoy Rock Quarry received recognition for their reclamation work on the Bellinger site near Alma. During the Association’s January 11 meeting, Christina Koelzer, representing the Kansas Department of Agriculture Division of Conservation, presented the Governor’s Mined Land Reclamation Award to McCoy Rock Quarry on behalf of Governor Laura Kelly.

The Bellinger project involved reclaiming 10 acres of land and planting native grass. The quarrying extraction process included excavators removing the subsoil and topsoil, with materials transported to stockpiles using articulating caterpillar trucks. McCoy Rock Quarry’s motto during the reclamation process was “as good or better,” reflecting their commitment to restoring the land to its pre-quarrying state or even enhancing it through simultaneous land improvements.

Headquartered in Paxico, Kansas, McCoy Rock Quarry operates multiple sites with a workforce of 12 employees, supplying stone across the Midwest. Their philosophy revolves around nurturing the land that has supported them.