On November 5, Dolomite, leasor of the Manitou Sand and Gravel pit, conducted a blast to open a new lift (or level) in the quarry floor. That blast, as well as earlier blast on September 17, resulted in flyrock. According to Shirley Zicafoose, "Large rocks were rained upon residents to the south of the pit. Rocks as large as 30 pounds were blasted out of the pit onto adjacent property." Upset by this occurrence, Zicafoose called the police, contacted Ogden Supervisor Gay Lenhard and wrote a letter to Suburban News.

The police report substantiated Zicafoose's concern and stated that the "Rocks ranged in size from 4 inches in diameter to 20 inches in diameter (a good 15-20 pounds). It also stated that, "Any of the rocks certainly could have caused injury or death to anyone that could have been hit while in the yard. Structures and cars are also subject to damage."

Lenhard contacted the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) about the November 5 blast, and Dolomite will be fined for violation of permit and must, among other things, submit a report outlining how they will prevent such blasts in the future.

Zicafoose said, "The Citizens to Save Ogden (CTSO) group has been concerned and against the blasting and expansion of Manitou Sand and Gravel since the late 1970s and early 1980s; and when owner Walter Przybycien leased MS&G to Dolomite, a blasting permit was issued by the DEC.

Zicafoose said that in the late 70s and early 80s, "The expansion of the pit and resistance by the surrounding neighbors came to a head. Several experts, including geologists, hydrologists, and environmental people, all pooled information and opinions and decided that there should not be expansion that included blasting.

"At that time Walt Przybycien signed convenants with the Town of Ogden stating that he would agree to never have blasting at the MS&G pit. In turn, he was to come to the town offices to obtain an operating permit, which the town was to register with the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). This would have notified the state that no blasting permit was to be issued for this pit."

"However," Zicafoose continued, "the town never required Walt Pryzbycien to come in to get an operating permit; so, of course, nothing was ever recorded with the state." Lenhard said that this was true because it (the issue) was in litigation. Zicafoose said, "Przybycien wanted to retire but could not sell or lease the pit without blasting rights. He or Dolomite went to the state and got a blasting permit."

John L. Swierkos, Jr., geologist and environmental coordinator at Dolomite, responded to the DEC in a letter saying, "It's not our intention to have an incident such as this to ever occur. This was an initial development blast rather than a normal production blast." He said, "Upon inspection we did find flyrock. No matter what kind of blast we are doing, this is unacceptable."

Lenhard has been in regular contact with Dolomite and the DEC. Stressing that the flyrock occurrences were accidents, Lenhard stated, "Dolomite does not want this to happen." She also stated that, "This is between the DEC and Dolomite. I'm involved because I care about these people. They should not have to put up with flying rocks."

Lenhard said that Zicafoose is attacking the wrong people. She should not be attacking the town. The town has done everything possible to stop prevent the blasting. I think I've made a difference in their (Dolomite's and DEC's) level of awareness." She said, "Once the DEC made the decision to (allow blasting) I couldn't do anything more. I do care about the neighbors, and I want the DEC to do something. It is their responsibility."

Gregory Dembowski of St. Lawrence Explosives Corporation wrote in a letter that, "Future prevention of flyrock from floor development blasts will need to be a joint effort on the part of both the quarry and St. Lawrence Explosives Corporation." He said the blast was drilled and blasted under standing water, and that the blast was more of a construction blast than a quarry production blast. "Prior to executing such blasts, we recommend conducting a pre-blast meeting of all parties involved to discuss safety and flyrock concerns, plan the best location to conduct the blast and methods to be employed." He also listed measures that must be taken to control variations in blast parameters.

Steve Army of the DEC said that there will be consequences and a fine due to violation of permit, but that is still in the works.

"We are currently working with our division enforcement and the environmental conservation offices. Asked what role he feels the DEC plays in this, he answered, "We play a regulatory role. It is our responsibility to insure that they (Dolomite) are in compliance with their permit and designed the permit so it would minimize environmental impact."

He said he feels the problem occurred because the "shot design was bad to begin with or overloaded. They were trying to deepen the quarry floor and go down another level (or lift). The only place the energy could go was up. Too much energy was directed at the surface, causing flyrock." He said that the company can not blast any more this year. The DEC has requested information from the quarry and the blaster as to what happened to cause the flyrock and what can be done to prevent it in the future.

For the first five or six blasts of next year, the DEC must be notified and will be on site when the blasting is conducted. They are reviewing all shot records and seismographic information.

Dembowski wrote that it is fortunate that in this incident no one was injured and no property was damaged. "Regardless, it is our intent to prevent all such future occurrences."

Possible flyrock causes
Gregory Dembowski of St. Lawrence Explosives wrote that, "Discovering the exact cause of the flyrock noted on November 8 may prove to be difficult." The following are suggestions for the cause:

• While stemming holes under water, an unseen blockage of the hole may have occurred allowing inadequate stemming of a borehole, contributing to flyrock.
• Hidden conditions of the geology may have contributed to flyrock.
• Deviation in the millisecond timing of the detonators used, may have resulted in timing overlaps, allowing the detonation of more than one hole per delay, contributing to flyrock.

Dembowski said that St. Lawrence Explosives Corporation is confident that flyrock can be prevented from future floor development blasts by following these recommendations:

• Reduce the water level at the immediate blast site to facilitate examination of the rock condition.
• Use electronic detonators to eliminate any timing discrepancies.
• Start subsequent lifts further to the north of the quarry to increase the distance from neighbors.
• Videotape blasts to provide additional information from future floor development blasts.

John L. Swierkos, Jr., geologist and environmental coordinator of Dolomite, proposed the following list of measures that would be taken to solve the issue.

• Call list of people to be notified on day of blasting. (Currently in place).
• Call list to be notified one hour or more in advance before blast. (Currently in place).
• On site pre-blast survey for any possible geologic anomalies.
• Change pounds per timing delay for future blast.
• Blast pattern design many change to help minimize any future occurrences.
• Future lifts may start further to the north of the quarry.
• Post blast survey to ensure shot fired in correct timing order.
• Seismographs set up on three of the four stakes.