Materials and Methods
Study Area
The research was conducted in Mowire near Kodie in the Ashanti Region of
Ghana. An area lying between Latitude: 6° 48’ 21.38” (6.8347°) north and
Longitude: 1° 38’ 25.43” (1.7172°) west with an elevation of 280m in the
Afigya Kwabre District (Fig 1). Average temperatures ranged between 25.0
°C between July and August and 28.0 °C from March to April with an
average annual rainfall of 1400 mm (Bannerman et al .,2013). The
district experiences relatively high humidity ranging from 90% to 98%
in the rainy season and drops to below 75% in the dry season (Bannermanet al .,2013). The district has a current population density of
397.3 persons per square kilometer with increasing demand of land for
residential purposes whiles available land for agriculture and natural
vegetation has been depleted. The forest vegetation has been degraded by
lumbering, settlement development and agriculture. Part of the forest
has been disturbed by various human activities such as farming, logging
and quarry operations. The economy of the district is mainly agrarian
employing about 61% of the total workforce. K.K quarry and Brosa
Mineral Resource Limited are located at Mowire Township about (6km) away
from Kodie on the Offinso highway. These two companies mine within the
enclave of the quarry located in the town periphery. The quarry
operation has existed and been active for the past fourteen years. Stone
quarry is the main activity engaged by the two quarry companies. The
stones are crushed into relatively small pieces of gravel-sized
particles which are transported by heavy duty vehicles daily. Blasting
of rocks are done every Tuesday and Friday. KK Quarry company take their
turn to blast on Tuesdays whiles Brosa Mineral Resource blast on
Fridays. The site was positioned on a radial map with three cardinal
points Northern Zone (NZ), Eastern Zone (EZ) and Western Zones (WZ)
(Figure1). Significant quarrying activities are undertaken on the (EZ)
of the quarry operational which consist mainly of a secondary forest
(dense canopy with a lot of undergrowth and sweet nectar plants)
stretching along to the Northern part of the quarry. The EZ had the rock
cracker which was a compact, cost-effective and transportable piece of
machinery used to split, break stones and rock blocks, to reduce rocks
and to split reinforced concrete. Crushing of stones into small pieces
of rocks were done here. The rock cracker works almost every day for 24
hours generating a lot of noise and small volumes of dust to the
adjoining environment. The (WZ) has two secondary forest (degraded with
less canopy) patches as well as a sacred grove. The zone has a vast land
which has been degraded by a lot of flying rocks from the quarry
operations. Dust moves in this direction after every blast of the quarry
which was done every Tuesday and Friday. The (NZ) comprises of a
secondary forest and a settlement forming a large community and
experiences a lot of land vibrations as a result of heavy vehicles which
transport rock particles from the quarry site. The study was carried out
between the months of August 2018 and February 2019, which spanned
within dry and wet season.