Sep 27, 2005 By Angie Santello 7 min read

MASONTOWN – Residents along North Water Street in Masontown allege the blasting being performed by Amerikohl Mining Inc. near the German Township/Masontown line is rocking the foundations of their homes, causing many to call for a change in the force of blasts. From atop the hill at the intersection of Virginia Avenue and North Water Street just before the entrance to the German-Masontown Park, one can see part of the acres of strip mining residents allege has been rocking the foundations of their homes for the last several months.

Dave Maxwell, vice president for Amerikohl, claims the blasting has been performed almost daily at the 201-acre Honsaker Surface Mining site since January and has not caused damage to anyone’s home or property.

“We knew it would be issue out there because of proximity of homes to the blasting,” Maxwell said. “There hasn’t been any activity in Masontown for quite some time and we knew that people can feel the blasting in various ways, depending on where they are located in proximity to the mine.

“On different days, depending on the atmospheric condition, they’re going to feel it,” Maxwell said. “You are going to know they’re there.”

Maxwell said the surface mining operation is strictly regulated by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

“I know they’re on top of this as well as we are,” Maxwell said.

He said the blasting is in compliance with regulations, and he noted that DEP is looking into possible mine subsidence in the area.

But North Water Street residents can point to areas where their concrete porches are separating from their homes, to visible cracks that run the length of the mortar bonding their brick work or of expanding cracks in an in-ground swimming pool or paved driveways.

Residents say the damage did not exist before the blasting; rather, it has occurred within the last several months.

Stoffa used a saw and tape measurer to demonstrate the deepness of a crack in the earth in the backyard of his North Water Street home. The crack is among a zig-zag pattern of other cracks similar to the pattern of a quilt.

“There are cracks 12-inchees deep in the ground and backyard that wasn’t there before, and I don’t know where that’s coming from,” he said. “I think this house is being shaken when its blasted, and I think something should be done about this.”

A handful of North Water Street residents including Stoffa and his wife, Betty, said they were not given a warning for the blasts they claim rock the foundations of their houses.

“(My wife and I) were never notified of any blasting in the area until we felt the house shake,” said Stoffa. “My house shakes so bad pictures on wall rattle, the chair I’m sitting on shakes and the plants moves. Why is the dirt leaving the concrete curbs in the yard? It’s shaking away from the curbs.”

Stoffa said he has been told that his mine subsidence insurance would not cover the supposed blasting damage.

Stoffa and other North Water Street residents have signed their name to a list of people being affected by the blasting that Masontown borough officials are compiling.

“I signed the paper because I wanted to stop the blasting so heavy,” Stoffa said.

On a small calendar, Stoffa has recorded the shakes he has felt from the blasts since March. He has recorded between three to five shakes ranging from mild to heavy per month. The latest shake he felt occurred on Sept. 21.

The same scenario occurred in the mortar that bonds the brick at Sue McCracken’s Main Street garage. What began as a small crack in the mortar is now a separation running the height of the garage, said McCracken.

Both McCracken and Joe and Betty Stoffa have lived in their homes for years and said they are witnessing a lifetime investment fall apart.

“We saved a lifetime to build this house,” said Betty Stoffa.

Said McCracken about the area’s residents, “We’re not what you would call extensively wealthy. To pick up and move on would be hard to do for a lot of us.”

McCracken compared the feeling of the blasts to an earthquake. Stoffa’s wife said she felt sick from the blasts as did Diane Kalafsky, who lives across the alley from McCracken.

Cappellini said, “When you have a building coming away from the foundation and cracks in the ground, you have a problem.

“I didn’t put my life savings in my house to have someone shake it down,” she continued.

A part of McCracken’s extensive outdoor brickwork is cracked as well as the connections between the front porch and the main house. She said the hot water pipe separated from the wall inside the guesthouse located outside her home and three feet of water damage to the walls of the guesthouse, an estimated $20,000 damage that she said occurred during a period of blasting.

“I never had a bit of problem until the blasting started,” said McCracken.

Karen Berish displayed a crack she said opened across the concrete border of her in-ground swimming pool over the summer. She said the water level in her pool dropped over the summer, also.

“If it’s vibrating the ground, it’s vibrating water. It could be shaking the whole ground.

“I’m worried about the plumbing in the pool,” she continued. “There’s no telling what could happen in six months to a year.”

She also said there are two cracks in the basement of her home and a crack in the family room, while a crack in her paved driveway is expanding.

“You don’t know what to do. You don’t know whether to get it fixed,” she said.

Dorothy “Tootsie” Cappenelli said she thought her ceiling in her 519 N. Water St. home was going to cave in during one heavy blast felt recently.

Maxwell said the law requires that the mining company send blasting notification to property owners within a half of a mile radius of the blasting, but those who live on North Water Street are outside of that area, thus were also not eligible for a pre-blasting survey, which could serve as proof that damage that may have occurred as a result of the blasts was not present before the blasts.

Maxwell said the law requirement of a half of a mile was determined through various and numerous studies through the years by the United States Bureau of Mines based distances blasts can reach if done within legal limits.

He said inspectors have visited the homes and properties of a couple of residents who claim they have damage from the blasting, but believes that the damage was not caused by Amerikohl’s blasting.

He said Amerikohl is attempting to be “a good neighbor” to residents and want to leave the area with as many people happy as possible.

“If we found we harmed or damaged homes, we will fix homes,” he said. “We understand their frustration and we do know that DEP is looking into it to help them.

“We truly want to good neighbors and good stewards for the environment,” he added. “This is not something permanent. It’s temporary. We’re just borrowing the ground for a short period, and want to leave as many people happy as possible and that’s what we try to do. If there are any afteraffects, we fix them.”