Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Proposed blasting changes blasted

Shorter explosions and limited hours for construction blasting will help Henderson residents, city officials say, but an ordinance proposed to change the rules has blasters and developers fuming that it will cause construction delays and cost overruns that could increase new-home prices.

The suggested changes include decreasing blast durations from three seconds to one second and limiting blasts to four specific 15-minute periods per weekday.

A public hearing on the proposed ordinance is slated for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Green Valley Training Room at Henderson City Hall, 240 Water St.

Construction blasting on local hills and mountains has been an issue in recent years as valley construction has moved toward the foothills, especially in Henderson. There, errant blasts last December caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to homes near the explosions. Another blast, in June, caused lesser damage but led some residents to complain that blasting was a continuing problem.

Some homeowners are cautiously optimistic about the proposed ordinance, which would replace regulations approved just last year.

"Short of outlawing blasting - which I do not expect and do not want because I am for development - these proposed changes obviously are better for homeowners," said Scott Hansen, whose Terrazzo development home was damaged by the December blast.

"With the time restrictions, we will better know when a blast is going to happen. The first time they blasted here we were totally taken by surprise. We thought it was an earthquake."

Similar responses from residents sparked the Henderson City Council to direct staff to come up with solutions.

"The public's perception is that the blasting will never end," Henderson Blasting Committee Chairman Fulton Cochran said.

"Residents also have told us the blasts scare and startle them. This (proposed ordinance) is all about improving quality of life."

The new ordinance is expected to be introduced to the City Council on Dec. 12 and voted on Jan. 2, Cochran said.

Blasters are concerned about the limitation of explosions to the four 15-minute time slots designated by the ordinance for each weekday. If a blaster misses that window, he would have to wait for the next time slot. If the last slot of the day is missed, he would have to wait until the next weekday.

The proposed ordinance allows for a blasting company to detonate its explosives outside of the proposed 15-minute periods if the National Weather Service confirms that a weather advisory for rain or lightning in that area caused a delay.

Blasting now is allowed weekdays in Henderson anytime between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Danny Sanders, whose Sanders Construction is one of two blasting companies operating in Henderson, said the time restrictions can compromise job safety as well as unnecessarily delay operations.

"At some construction sites there are outside influences we cannot control," he said.

Among those problems are waiting for construction trucks hauling debris from prior blasts to clear the area or waiting for hikers to pass by, Sanders said. In addition, wind could kick up in the direction of homes, he said, delaying blasts to prevent creating air quality dust hazards.

New Mexico civil engineer Catherine T. Aimone-Martin, hired by Henderson as a consultant on blasting issues, agreed with Sanders that it is unwise to try to rush things when handling explosives.

Aimone-Martin, considered a national expert on geology and blasting, was in Henderson last week for an experiment that involved trying to meet a self-imposed blasting deadline.

"We didn't make that particular window," she said. "The reasons were that the equipment was not ready and not everyone was in place. We regrouped and waited for the next window."

Aimone-Martin said in real-life situations a number of bad things can happen when a blaster is forced to rush to meet a specific detonation goal. Among them, she said, is the potential of missing the "stemming" of a number of holes.

That occurs when there is not enough fill material to put into the holes along with explosives. The filling helps prevent air blasts that can cause windows in nearby homes to break, she said.

"Things can backfire when you do not have the time to do the double and triple safety checks," Aimone-Martin said.

Barry Duncan, of the Southern Nevada Homebuilders Association, said that if Henderson wants to limit blasting times, it might be better to set aside a three-hour block in the afternoon.

"There has to be an equitable solution," he said. "The homeowners' welfare and protection has to be addressed and so does the need for our industry to have the ability to continue to develop and grow."

Rob McGibney, of KB Homes, said that the proposed ordinance has some "onerous" language regarding blast duration and limits.

"The one-second blast might not make much of a difference to homeowners," he said. For blasters to do the same work that is now being done, McGibney said, they "will have to do a lot more blasts."

Sanders, a former Henderson planning commissioner, agrees that limiting a blast to one second will require more blasts to keep his timetable: "I do not see how more blasts in an area will make the homeowners happy."

Blasting committee chairman Cochran said there has been a "corresponding spike in complaints" from blasts that have had upwards of three seconds of vibrations.

"The human body is a great seismograph," he said. "If the duration is limited to one second, fewer people will notice the vibrations even if there has to be more blasts."

Sanders said he will recommend that the city continues to allow up to three-second blasts in remote areas that are more than 300 feet from homes, which he says accounts for 95 percent of his blasts.

He and competitor Dave Donner are also concerned about a planned demerit system they said could put them out of business.

Here is how the proposed system would work: A minor incident caused by a blast greater than 120 decibels would garner one demerit. A moderate incident would result in two demerits and a major incident blast causing severe damage would equal three demerits. (The sound of a chain saw three feet away is roughly equivalent to 120 decibels.)

Once a blaster receives four demerits in a 12-month period, he would face an administrative hearing that could result in work suspensions or the revocation of a business license, the proposed ordinance says.

"That scares me to death," Sanders said, noting and that a wind gust of 20 mph at detonation can cause a seismograph reading that would have registered less than 120 decibels to record 128.

Donner said it is conceivable that four minor infractions of slightly greater than 120 decibels that neither damage homes nor cause homeowner complaints could shut down a business.

"We have to reach a point that we can live with and the public can live with," he said.

Aimone-Martin says a solution used in other communities allows 3 to 5 percent of blasts per year to exceed 120 decibels, within reasonable limits. That, she said, would allow for "statistical variability" that puts properly done blasts a decibel or two over the legal limit.

The national standard for allowable blast decibels is 133, Aimone-Martin said, noting that blasts that would be illegal in Henderson are under the national standard and should not harm existing homes.

Michael Bouse, Henderson's director of building and fire safety, said the city's intent with the demerit formula is to eliminate from the books a misdemeanor crime that rarely if ever is enforced and replace it with "an administrative remedy."

Bouse said the city's blasting board would be able to resolve issues that, if the city started to enforce in earnest, would burden the court calendars.

But the proposed demerit plan is not written in stone, he said: "If the blasters have other ideas, we'd like to hear them."

Sanders and developers said the cost of delays caused by work suspensions or missed blasting opportunities inevitably will be passed on to future home buyers.

Brad Scow of KB Homes said a single lost day's work on some of his company's projects can cost up to $10,000.

Maureen Progar, a resident of Sun City MacDonald Ranch, whose home was damaged by a blast, said that while she believes the proposed changes can improve conditions for homeowners, she is concerned whether they will be enforced.

"If these new rules result in a lower intensity of the blasts, then that will put the quality of life back in our favor," she said.

"But then there is the issue of granting waivers. We saw the city grant a waiver to an ordinance that prohibited building along the sensitive ridgeline. You can have regulation after regulation but if you don't enforce them they don't mean anything."

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