SILVERTON - At 10:20 a.m. Jan. 31, residents of Silverton, a village in Branch Township, were shaken by an explosion.
"We must have had about 10 calls on it," John M. Matz, Schuylkill County emergency management coordinator, said Monday.
It originated from the Selkirk Mining site, and should not have been an unusual occurrence, according to Colleen Connolly, environmental community relations specialist for the state Department of Environmental Protection Northeast Regional Office, Wilkes-Barre.
"The blast measured 120 decibels, well within the regulations of 133 decibels. So it did not exceed safety levels," Connolly said.
Selkirk Mining is run by Gilberton Coal Co., according to Connolly. Representatives of Gilberton Coal did not return calls for comment this week.
The event was a reminder that the mining industry is still very much part of Schuylkill County, and so are the use of explosives.
"Sometimes it's just unusual. You don't expect to hear a blast even though we do have a fair amount of mining operations going on in the county. And blasting's part of it," Matz said.
DEP has published a guide for homeowners who reside near coal mining operations, "The Citizen's Guide to Explosives Regulations in Pennsylvania." It's available online at www.elibrary.dep.state.pa.us.
It states: "If you live near a mine, quarry or construction site, you may feel the effects of blasting. These operations conduct blasting to help extract minerals from the ground or to excavate road cuts, utility lines or building foundations. People are often concerned about the effects blasting may have on their home. Blasting may cause your home to shake. The effects of blasting may rattle windows, dishes and pictures hung on the wall. However, blasting conducted within Pennsylvania's regulatory limits will not damage your home."
This week, Connolly and other representatives of the local coal industry offered insights into the use of explosives in Schuylkill County. According to DEP, there are 21 surface mine sites and 10 active deep mines in Schuylkill County which are permitted blast. And there are no reported accidents or injuries involving explosives in mining in the county on record, according to Connolly.
To use explosives in mining in Pennsylvania, individuals and businesses must have permission from DEP.
"Pennsylvania's blaster's licensing program began in the 1950s. To qualify for a Pennsylvania blaster's license, a candidate must have one year of experience under the guidance of a licensed blaster," according to DEP's "Citizen's Guide."
"Licensed blasters have to be certified. They must show that they are ready to utilize the blasting material and can demonstrate their knowledge on how to use explosives," Connolly said.
"There's a two-day DEP training course and a DEP test. That test covers everything from properly igniting blasting agents to the handling of explosives and securing the property around the blast area," she said.
There are two types of explosives used in the local mining industry, according to Troy Wolfgang, chief of the anthracite division for the state Department of Environmental Protection's Bureau of Mine Safety in Pottsville.
Deep mine operations use dynamite and blasting caps, and the workers on site usually set those explosives off themselves, Wolfgang said.
But surface mine sites, also known as strip-mine operations, use a different kind of explosive, blasting agents known as ANFO - an acronym for Ammonium Nitrate Fuel Oil solution, Connolly said.
Usually contractors truck it in and explode it, said Tim Vought, a superintendent at Mountaintop Coal Mining Inc., Elysburg. Mountaintop leases county-owned land in Foster Township, near the county airport, for its strip mine operation.
"I don't know of any strip mining operations that do their own blasting," Vought said.
Pennex Powder Co., Kulpmont, is the company which rolls in to do blasts for Mountaintop. Others in the region which serve local strip mining operations include Maine Drilling and Blasting in Good Spring, according to Wolfgang.
Representatives of Pennex and Maine Drilling did not return calls for comment this week.
"Today, ANFO is the most widely used explosive in the blasting industry because it is relatively inexpensive and safe to handle," according to the website for the U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Surface Mining at www.techtransfer.osmre.gov.
It contains blasting grade prilled ammonium nitrate of grain sizes between one to two millimeters in diameter and porosity between 8 and 12 percent. The ANFO mixture contains approximately 94 percent ammonium nitrate and 6 percent diesel fuel, according to the site.
"We do it once a month usually," Vought said.
Vought described how he works with Pennex: "They come in. We discuss the shot. They lay out the shot, based on the holes that we've drilled. We have a log, which tells them how deep they are and what kind of material we've drilled through."
Vought has been on site when blasting work has been done.
"You really don't even know that it happened. It's just a bump and that's it. Actually, nothing even flies," Vought said.
But without question, explosives are dangerous.
"The dangers really fall in the poorly designed explosive, those that are defective, but not recognized by the party using them. There are no real dangers unless the blaster does not proceed with the regulations set forth in the permit. Blasting can be hazardous, but the blaster can control that by controlling the vibrations in a blast or minimizing the risk of having fly rock generated by the blast," Connolly said.
Blasting is a very compliant industry, she said.
"There are liabilities, both personally and property-wise, if they are not used properly," she said.
There are no records of accidents or injuries involving explosives in the mining industry in Schuylkill County, Connolly said.
"If they are not listed, then they did not happen," she said Wednesday.
According to DEP, the only blasting violations in the past decade in Schuylkill County occurred in July 2002. Pennsy Supply Inc. failed to maintain records of each of its blasts, which is a requirement.
People from Schuylkill County with complaints concerning blasting can contact the DEP Pottsville District Mining Office, 5 West Laurel Blvd., Pottsville, at 570-621-3118.