The sand and gravel industry, prior to the introduction of reclamation standards and policies , certainly did not have a very good public image in the province of Alberta. One only needs to travel in the province to see the many scars that were left prior to the enactment of legislation. The unreclaimed pits are still a serious problem which has to be faced by the Municipal Districts , Counties, and/or the Provincial Government. Many of the operators who were responsible for the untidy operations are no longer in business and therefore the pits remain looking like a bombed-out area.
It is interesting to note that the sand and gravel industry in the province formed a closely knit association and approached the provincial government with a view of having some type of standard introduced in order to upgrade the public image of the sand and gravel industry .
At that time, the Department of Environment responded and drafted regulations which were reviewed both by government and industry members and eventually were accepted by the government and which still form the basic concepts in the reclamation regulations .