Conemaugh Township Cambria County Johnstown, Pennsylvania ZONING ORDINANCE SECTION 1420 BLASTING

SECTION 1420 BLASTING

The Township finds that the use of explosives within the Township presents the possibility of great harms to preexisting structures, within the Township, and to the safety of persons and other property, accordingly no blasting or other detonation of explosive materials shall be permitted within the Township without the person seeking to conduct the same obtaining a special exception from the Zoning Hearing Board and complying with the following provisions.

• A. No blasting operation shall be carried out without first securing license from state or federal authorities where required.
• B. Temporary use of explosives.
  • 1. The detonation of no more than 3 charges within a period of 24 hours and only between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. shall be permitted in any district pursuant to a permit issued by the Zoning Officer, where the blasting is being utilized to excavate for foundations or underground portions of a permanent structure to be located on the land, when such operation shall last no more than 1 week. No more than one permit may be issued on a tract of land under this Section in any 6 month period.
  • 2. All other use of explosives on or in a property shall be limited to the M1 District.
• C. Conditions upon grant of special exception in M1 District:
  • 1. Shall provide a copy of blast reports and other reports of blasting required by the state to be kept available for regulatory personnel shall be sent to the Township within 30 days.
  • 2. The schedule of blasting including time and date of all planned blasting.
  • 3. Application shall contain types of explosives size of each charge and timing of each explosion to be used, measures for and location any storage facilities on site, pertinent qualifications of persons who will be handling or detonating explosives locations for blasting.
  • 4. Where charges will be placed more than fifteen (15) feet below the surface of the ground the applicant shall provide the Township with a study conducted by a competent independent professional engineer or geologist, indicating the probable effects of blasting on mine subsidence, groundwater tables and springs, shock damage to structures and property and the stability of landslide areas. Upon granting of a special exception for blasting, and within six (6) months of initiation of blasting activities, the permittee shall conduct an on-site study directed by a competent professional engineer or geologist. The study shall include the following elements:
    • (a) Measurement of seismic velocities and frequencies on actual bedrock units to be affected by blasting activities,
    • (b) Measurement of velocities and frequencies in bedrock units directly over and underlying any deep mine voids within 2,000 feet of the area of proposed operations, and
    • (c) Measurement is to be conducted at distances approximately 500, 1000, 2000 and 5000 feet from the limit of proposed blasting activities.
    • (d) Monitoring points shall also be established on landslides and failure surfaces within one-half mile of the permit area and all structure foundation walls within one-half mile of the permit boundary.
    • (e) The study shall utilize the combination of factors (maximum charges and time-delays, for example) expected to produce the highest velocities and most damaging frequencies expected to occur on the site during the operational lifetime of the mine.
    • (f) The study will be constructed so that ground response to blasting can be predicted in each major set of geologic, hydrologic and topographic settings surrounding the mine site. The completed study with interpretations shall be submitted to the Township within three (3) months of the first test blast dates. A condition of renewal of the special exception shall be satisfactory completion of the study.
  • 5. Velocity and frequency measurements are required on any blast affecting more than 200 cubic yards of material at the following locations:
    • (a) Top of bedrock surface at a distance of 1,000 2,000 feet from blast site.
    • (b) Foundation walls of all occupied structures within 3,000 feet of the blast for every blast event.

      All testing shall be conducted by qualified personnel. Reports shall be submitted to the Township within two (2) weeks of each blast.

  • 6. The applicant shall:
    • (a) Water level measurements of all wells within a (3,600) foot radius of the blast must be taken within 24 hours before and after each blast.
    • (b) Spring and stream flow measurements of all spring discharges within (3,000') of the blast within 24 hours before and after each blast.
  • 7. The applicant shall provide evidence of public liability insurance in an amount of, at least, $500,000 together with an irrevocable letter of credit in the amount of any deductible, payable to the Township.
  • 8. Plans for contaminant of dust or other air pollutants created by the detonation.
  • 9. Blasting within 1,000 feet of an LS District shall be regulated as provided in Section 802.
• D. Conditions on Conduct of operation.
  • 1. Blasting shall be carried out exclusively during the hours of 9:00 a.m. through 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, Saturday.
  • 2. Blasting may only be carried out by the persons listed and approved in the application.
  • 3. The Zoning Hearing Board may impose conditions necessary to assume that operations do not unreasonably interfere with neighboring use.
• E. Monitoring.
  The applicant shall provide the services of an independent testing laboratory or competent and experienced engineer or geologist approved by the Township together with a seismograph to be located at a distance of 1,000 feet from the blasting site in the direction of the greatest immediate concentration of development, at the option of the applicant the applicant may elect to have the Township provide the service through the Township's consulting engineer upon payment of fees pursuant to a regularly quoted fee schedule approved by the Township Supervisors.

  Special exceptions shall be good for a one (1) year period only.

• F. No permit under this Section will be granted for blasting any closer than 1,000 feet from any occupied residence or commercial structure.