Laserfiche WebLink
Janice Lynn Bennett - 81422.PDF Page 4 <br />Blasting Impacts Assessment for the Proposed GCC Rio Grande, Inc Quarry in Pueblo County, Colorado <br />1.0 INTRODUCTION <br />GCC Rio Grande, Inc. (GCC) currently owns or leases land located in Pueblo County, Colorado. <br />This property, south of the City of Pueblo, Colorado, is bounded to the north by the St Charles <br />River and roughly to the west by Denver Rio Grande Rail Road (DRGRR) tracks. With the intent <br />to develop a cement plant and limestone feed quarry at this site, GCC has applied to the Colorado <br />Department of Natural Resources, Division of Minerals and Geology (CO- DNR -DMG) for a <br />mining permit. In the geotechnical stability section (6.5) of the permit request, the applicant is <br />required to demonstrate, through appropriate blasting, vibration, geotechnical and structural <br />engineering analyses, that off -site areas will not be adversely affected by blasting. GCC has <br />retained Gordon F. Revey, Principal consultant of REVEY Associates, Inc. (RAI), to perform the <br />required blasting impacts analyses. RAI is a company that specifically focuses on rock blasting <br />design, controls and environmental impacts work. <br />On July 5, 2002, Gordon F. Revey (author) inspected the proposed quarry site. James D. Gill, <br />P.E., representing Contour Consulting Engineering, LLC, accompanied the author during this <br />visit. The locations of residential properties, waterways, wells, roadways, bridges, utilities and <br />other facilities in the area, along with the topography of the site, were studied during this site visit. <br />The author has also reviewed the mining permit application for the Red Rock Plant and Mine, No. <br />M- 2002 -004. <br />The primary focus of this report is to develop a listing of all potential blasting issues and damage <br />concerns and to evaluate their impacts or validity. <br />validity. The report was created to address concerns raised by written comments submitted to the <br />Division of Minerals and Geology during the public comment period on the Red Rock Plant and <br />Mine, issues designated in the Pre - Hearing Order of June 7, 2002, and to provide additional <br />information to the Mined Land Reclamation Board and the Division of Minerals and Geology on <br />the lack of blasting impacts at the Red Rock Plant and Mine. <br />In order to acquaint the reader with the physical science of seemingly complex effects, e.g. ground <br />vibration and air - overpressure (blast noise), a brief technical review of blasting effects and <br />technical terms is included in the body of this report. The technical sections also include reviews <br />of applicable regulatory limits, which are followed by a specific evaluation of typical blasting <br />issues and potential physical impacts of blasting at the proposed Red Rock Project. A map <br />showing the location of the site is shown in Figure 1.1. <br />All identified issues and findings expressed in this report are based on the author's observations <br />made at the site, prior experience, industry- standard technical calculations, and maps, reports and <br />information provided by other engineers and professionals representing GCC and public <br />comments. <br />1 REVEY Associates, Inc. <br />Page 1 July 2002 <br />