Laserfiche WebLink
Ms. Rugh stated that between 5:30 and 6:00 PM on Friday the 18th of July, she was standing on the <br />covered deck at the barbecue (the children were under the deck playing) when she heard a blast than <br />a "shower of rocks fall on the patio roof, into the water of the ditch and in the orchard" across the <br />canal. She thought they were large rocks because of the noise of them hitting the water was so loud. <br />She said that later that evening her husband and Tony Bear, from the Mine, walked around the yard, <br />but she did not know if they found any rocks. She said that no one was hurt and she did not know of <br />any damage to their home. I asked Ms. Rugh if she was ever notified of the blasting, and she stated <br />that she was never notified but that she did not know if Mr. Frazier was notified. When Mr. Frazier <br />arrived he confirmed that in February of 1997, he was notified by Bowie of the need for blasting. <br />Doug Frazier arrived and he and I walked around the yard and his shop, but could not find any rocks <br />of damage indication that rocks had hit anything. I did see something on the roof of his shop and when <br />it was retrieved it was clearly only a clod of dry clay. <br />At 6:15 PM on Tuesday the 22nd, I returned to the Rugh residence to look for the three rocks (The <br />size of a quarter) that was claimed to be on the rabbit hutch. I met with B. J., son of the Rugh's. He <br />stated that he did not know of any rocks that had been found at the house, but that he was not home <br />when the blasting took place. I examined the rabbit hutches and could not find any sign of flyrock or <br />even any sand size particles. The only objects I found were some leaves and a few chunks of old <br />wood (about the size of a quarter, but square). <br />I asked B. J. About the dust problem and he stated that it blows away to the west and was not a <br />problem down at the house. At the time of this inspection the wind was blowing relatively hard, but <br />there was no dust observed. I should say that I had been by this location both in the AM and in the PM <br />over a four day period and only observed dust when work was actively in progress, and it was not <br />blowing off site toward the homes, but to the west. <br />On Thursday the 24th of July I went to the Bowie # 2 mine site and met with Tony Bear and Larry <br />Whitt (construction superintendent) to look at the blasting site and get their accounting of what <br />happened. Tony Bear stated that he did not find or remove any rocks from the Rugh's property, in fact <br />he looked all over the area including the old State Highway 133 and could not find any flyrock. He said <br />that he went down to their house because the sheriff suggested that he do so. Both Tony Bear and <br />Larry Whitt stated that the blast did not blow any rock in the direction of the Rugh's property, but in fact <br />it went toward the northeast. They both stated that three boulders were drilled and blasted to fracture <br />them, and that they all went off at the same time. <br />Below are my observations while inspecting the blasting site. Pictures were taken of the following and <br />will be available after they are developed. <br />• The blasting site was on the inside of the curve of the road just below the topsoil pile. <br />• The collected samples of the blasted rock were sandstone. <br />• Tree damage was caused by heavy equipment not the blasting. This was confirmed by both <br />Tony Bear and Larry Whitt. <br />• My observations of the fractured rock showed them to be in the northeasterly direction of <br />where I was told the rocks were blasted. This is away from the site direction of the Rugh's <br />home. I was also told that some of this rock was rock that hit the haul road and that it was <br />pushed back into the ditch by the maintainer. <br />While at the site I talked with Bill Bear and asked if he knew who lived in the house that was closer to <br />the blasting site than the Rugh's. He stated that they were renters of Bowie's and their name was <br />Martinez. <br />I left the mine site and caught the Martinezs' just as they were leaving. They stated that they had bit <br />seen any flyrock on their property and had no known damage to their home or property. I observed <br />their concrete patio on the north side of their house and could not see any rock or other suspicious <br />debris. Both Bruce and Kathy Martinez stated that they were away in Nevada when the blasting <br />