Zoning board hears testimony on planned blasting at strip mine
Giving testimony during a Fayette County zoning hearing board is James Elkin, a regional blasting supervisor for Wampum Hardware, the blasting contractor for the coal mining project near the Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church in Dunbar Township.
Thomas B. Earhart (second from left) attorney for Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church questions a witness during a Fayette County zoning hearing about a coal mine operating near the church. Others at the table are Joshua Scully, church elder, Nathaniel C. Parker, attorney for the mining company and John Hiser, engineer for the mining company.
An expert in blast vibrations testified Wednesday that the proposed blasting at a strip mine near a historic church in Dunbar Township would not damage the church or cemetery.
Doug Bartley, president of DBA Consulting of Wheeling, W.Va., testified during a hearing before the Fayette County Zoning Hearing Board on a special exception request filed by Neiswonger Construction Inc. to operate a surface coal mine.
“Most people’s idea of blasting is not what Hollywood portrays. A good blast is a boring blast,” Bartley said.
Bartley explained that blasting is a release of energy and there are vibrations and noise, and people can feel it and hear it and maybe see some dust, “but it’s very well controlled.”
Bartley said he has done hundreds and hundreds of investigations regarding effects of blasting vibrations, although he hadn’t visited either the church or the cemetery.
Bartley said the blasting company will use very strict standards if blasting is permitted at the site, located near Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church and cemetery on Laurel Hill Road.
He explained that the allowable limits are one half inch a second, company will only blast for one fourth inch per second, or half the allowed blast standard.
“It would not cause damage,” Bartley said.
The blasting is proposed for 850 feet from the church and 100 feet from the property line of the cemetery.
James “Jay” Elkin, regional manager for Wampum Hardware Co. of New Galilee, testified that he manages about 75 certified blasters for the company and is himself a licensed blaster.
He said all the blasting that is planned for site is going to go “directly straight away from the church.”
He said his company has only had incidents of “fly rock” one half of one percent of the time. He said fly rock occurs when a piece of debris travels farther than half the distance of the safe zone around the blasting location.
“I can make a block of earth go that direction but I can’t control fly rock,” Elkin said.
“It is well controlled and regulated but you are still dealing with an unknown when dealing with blasting,” Bartley said.
Elkin said he would put a seismograph outside the church to monitor the vibrations and blasting would occur normally on the lunch hour or at shift change Monday through Friday with an occasional Saturday. Blasting is not permitted on Sundays.
Elkin said the mining company will have insurance for incidents that occur as a result of blasting, but wouldn’t be responsible for damage that occurs later. A couple church members expressed concerns that graves could sink or collapse as a result of blasting.
Bartley said vibrations from blasting are “elastic and transient” and there are no long term effects.
More than six months ago, the Strattanville company began mining on property zoned A-1 (agricultural rural) owned by Dunbar Township Supervisor John Tabaj.
The mine is already in operation.
The company received the required permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection, but did not receive the required special exception from the zoning board. Because no response was received after certified were letters sent to the Fayette County Office of Planning, Zoning and Community Development and Dunbar Township, the company began operations.
In March, the company was cited for operating without receiving a special exception and then sought to apply for one. The first hearing date was May 11 and the second was Wednesday. The day ended without the testimony concluding.
Additional testimony will be presented at the continued hearing when witnesses, including a DEP representative, will be called by Thomas B. Earhart, attorney for Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church. The hearing will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 3, at the public safety building in Uniontown.
The company is also seeking permission from DEP to blast at the site, and numerous church members have expressed concerns about potential damage to the historic church and its adjacent cemetery.
The company voluntarily stopped operations after the DEP hearing for the blasting permit but began again, claiming that the DEP threatened to cite them if they didn’t continue.
Sue Martin, a county planning technician, testified that she cited the company March 18 after she became aware of the operations and determined that no county permits were received. Martin said she informed the company that one way to come in compliance was to apply for a special exception.
Martin said she did not tell the company spokesman he could continue to mine, but did say she wouldn’t issue a cease-and-desist order unless it was a safety concern.
Martin said she sought advice from assistant county solicitor Sheryl Heid about what steps to take and Heid said to check with DEP. Although Martin said she spoke with a DEP representative who said revoking a permit and leaving a hole in the ground was more dangerous than mining, Martin said she didn’t receive written correspondence stating that because the office fax machine has been down.