Laserfiche WebLink
Blasting Impacts and Rock Slope Stability Assessment for Cottonwood Quarry in Grand Cowdy, CO <br />the deer alight casually lift their heads and look toward the test site. However, they never ran <br />away or appeared otherwise bothered by the loud noise. It was obvious that, like the animals at <br />the Metro Washington Park Zoo in Portland, the deer bad become acclimatized to the blasting <br />noise. <br />For the past three years, the author has also been involved in an expansion project at the County <br />of Sonoma California Central Disposal Site in Petaluma, CA, where blasting has been regularly <br />occurred within 1,000 feet of dairy cows. Measurements in the cow pastures have indicated that <br />blast noise and vibration levels have been as high as 0.08 ints and I28 OL, respectively. Despite <br />initial concerns by the dairy operators, all involved parties have now concurred that the cows <br />have not been disturbed in any way by these blasting effects. <br />Based on the referenced studies and observations of the author at many other projects, blasting at <br />the Cottonwood Project will have little or no impact on domestic or wild animals near the site or <br />on neighboring properties. <br />4.5 Control of Dust <br />MSHA Hiles require the use water injection when drilling to control drilling dust. Standard <br />blasting practices using sequential delay timing schemes to generate effective rock fragmentation <br />and vibration control will also minimize blasting dust. Further, aggregate quarry operators will <br />invariably remove loose overburden to prevent dilution of mined rock, which lessens the amount <br />of fine material that can become airborne by blasting. If needed, during dry summer periods, <br />water can also be sprayed onto blast areas to further mitigate dust. If these standard practices are <br />applied, it is unlikely that airborne dust from blasting will be a cause of concern. <br />4.6 Impacts on Soll Resources <br />Some small amounts of blasting agents, which in quarries is typically ammonium nitrate pellets <br />mixed with fuel oil (ANFO), is lost to the ground by spillage or wind blowing while being <br />loaded. The amount on nitrates released to the ground by these losses is typically not tonic to any <br />flora or fauna in an and environment like that existing at the Cottonwood site. Wind-blown <br />ANFO dust that lands on the ground surface effectively becomes fertilizer for plants that convert <br />it to other natural matter through photosynthesis. If Linke Construction Co., consistent with <br />good practices for minimizing spillage, implements carefid clean-up procedures, concentrations <br />of nitrates or ammonia in soils will not be harmful or even noticeable. <br />REVEYAssociatm Inc. Page 17 April 2004 <br />