(a) Purpose and Scope.
(1) It is the purpose of this section to provide minimum standards for safety to life, limb and property, for general public welfare and for safe practices in the use of explosive devices or dangerous ordnance for blasting, mining and quarrying purposes in the construction industry and related operations including drilling and preparation for blasting.
(2) These rules and regulations shall apply to every construction project, including demolition, maintenance and repair work, where explosives are used for blasting purposes, mining and quarry, and landfills, and compliance with the requirements herein contained shall be necessary on all such projects.
(b) General Provisions. Every person using explosives within the corporate limits shall comply with the regulations herein established and in addition, with the provisions of both applicable State and Federal law, as well as the Fire Prevention Code of the National Board of Fire Underwriters in the use of explosives including their storage, transportation and safety practices, including Ohio Administrative Code Chapter 1301:7-7-26 (Article 26). All such persons shall use every reasonable precaution to provide for the safety of all employees on the job and such other persons who may be regularly entitled to be upon or near the explosive or dangerous ordnance site, as well as to provide for the safety of the general public. Every employee shall observe the provisions hereof and no person shall use explosives or dangerous ordinances for blasting purposes in a manner contrary to the provisions of this section.
(c) Insurance Protection. Any person, firm or corporation, who desires to conduct blasting operations within the corporate limits shall post with the Building Inspector, or his/her designee, an effective certificate of public liability insurance with an accredited company authorized to do business in the State of Ohio in the amount of at least one million dollars ($1,000,000) for any incident or person which policy shall protect such person, firm or corporation, the Municipality, its inhabitants and the general public from any and all claims, damages and/or demands, arising from the conducting of each blasting operation. The certificate shall be in effect during all blasting operations and shall be in a form approved by the Solicitor.
(d) Pre-Blast Survey.
(1) At least forty-five days prior to the initiation of blasting, the permit or license holder shall notify, in writing, all residents or owners of dwellings or other structures located within 1,000 feet of the permit area, about the procedure involved in requesting a preblast survey. Such notification shall be either in person or by U.S. certified mail, return receipt requested, and shall include a statement that any preblast survey requested must be conducted and completed at least ten days before the planned initiation of the blasting. A copy of all preblast survey notifications shall be filed with the Police Chief and Building Inspector.
(2) A resident or owner of a dwelling or structure within 1,000 feet of the permit area may request a preblast survey. This request shall be made in writing, directly to the Building Inspector, or his/her designee. Within thirty days after a request for a preblast survey is received, the permit holder shall conduct a preblast survey of the dwelling or structure of the resident(s) or owner(s) making the preblast survey request(s), and prepare a written report of the survey.
(3) The preblast survey written report shall include the permit holder's opinion as to the condition of the dwelling or structure and shall document any preblasting damage and other physical factors that could reasonably be affected by blasting.
(4) The preblast survey written report shall be signed by the person who conducted the preblast survey. The original report shall be filed with the Building Inspector or his/her designee, and a copy shall be provided by the permit holder to the resident or owner requesting the preblast survey.
(5) No blasting shall commence until all preblast survey written reports on any and all requested preblast surveys have been filed with the Building Inspector or his/her designee and the resident or owner has had at least ten days to respond.
(6) If the resident or owner disagrees with any portion of a preblast survey written report, they may submit their written description as to the areas of disagreement to the Building Inspector or his/her designee, with a copy to the permit holder.
(e) Village Official's Pre-Blast Review and Recommendations; Hearing Requirements. In addition to the pre-blast notification procedure set forth above, the permit holder shall also notify, in writing, the Village Engineer and Village Hydrogeologist at least forty-five days prior to the initiation of blasting, setting forth in such notice the permit holder's intended blasting plan. At a minimum, such blasting plan shall contain the following data:
(1) Location, depth, area, anticipated neat lines in relationship to adjacent excavations and structures.
(2) Diameter, spacing, burden, depth, pattern and inclination of blast holes.
(3) Type, strength, amount in terms of weight and cartridges of explosives to be used in each hole for each delay and the total for the blast, including powder for each blast.
(4) The distribution of the charge in the holes and the priming of each hole.
(5) Type, sequence and number of delays, delay pattern; wiring diagram for blast; size and type of hook-up lines, and lead lines; type and capacity of firing source; type, size and location of safety switches and lighting gaps.
(6) Scaled range or distance used to calculate the scaled range for each blast.
(7) Stemming of holes and matting or covering of blast area.
(8) Qualifications of the person or persons who will be directly responsible for supervising the loading and firing the shot.
(9) The pre-blast conditions survey reports. After review of such plan, such officials shall inform the Building Inspector in writing of any recommendations or objections to such plan, providing a copy to the permit holder. The permit holder may not thereafter proceed with the intended blasting plan until such time as the permit holder satisfactorily responds to such objections or recommendations, as determined by the Building Inspector. In the event the permit holder and the Building Inspector cannot reach agreement as to the appropriate method to proceed, the applicant may appeal to the Planning Commission which shall conduct a hearing and render a decision, by majority vote.
(f) Blasting Operations.
(1) Supervision. Blasting operations shall be conducted only under the supervision of a qualified blaster and at least one other person shall be physically present at the detonation of a blast. Only the qualified blaster may detonate or give the command to detonate a blast.
(2) Blasting schedule; written schedule. Written notice of the exact time and place of the use of explosives shall be given to both the Police Chief, the Building Inspector or his/her designee and to the seismologist at least- forty- eight hours before such explosives are used. Notification of the general public reasonably expected to be potentially affected by such blasting shall be by means of written "door-hanger" type notices approved in advance by the Building Inspector, and shall be effected at least forty-eight hours prior to the start of each blasting. It shall be the duty of the seismologist to attend all such use of explosives on the date and at the time and place, and to notify the permit holder or licensee of any alternative date and time in the event the same is necessary to be rescheduled. The seismologist shall issue written reports on each and every blasting event to the Building Inspector or his/her designee and the permit holder, licensee and/or contractor, which reports shall include comments upon compliance with regulations and standards herein established. These reports shall be filed with the Building Inspector or his/her designee within twenty-four hours after each blasting event, or at the latest, prior to the next blasting event, if same occurs prior to the expiration of twenty-four hours.
(3) Hours of Blasting. No blasting operations shall be conducted within the corporate limits except on weekdays, which are not otherwise legal holidays or Sundays, and only then between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., provided, however, that in the event the Building Inspector or his/her designee agree that an emergency situation exists, such hours and times of blasting may be specifically varied to counteract such emergency.
(4) Blasting access control and warnings. The permit holder shall conspicuously place signs reading "Blasting Area" along the perimeter of any blasting area when the perimeter is within l00 feet of any public road and/or right of way, as well as at the edge of all blasting areas along access and haul roads within the permit area. For each blast, the qualified blaster conducting the blast shall define the limits of the blasting area where danger of flyrock exists. The permit holder shall be responsible for controlling access to the blasting area to prevent the presence of unauthorized persons at least ten minutes before each blast and until the qualified blaster has determined that no unusual post-blast hazards exist and access to and travel within the blasting area can safely resume.
(5) Ground vibration specifications. Blasting operations shall be so conducted that ground vibrations measured at the nearest structure or building, supporting towers and appurtenances, do not exceed peak particle velocity on any of the three mutually perpendicular planes of motion, i.e., vertical, longitudinal or transverse. The blasting shall be conducted so that the low frequency ground vibration does not exceed Modified Figure B- 1, Bureau of Mines RI 8507, set forth below:
Blast Vibration Frequency, Hz
Modified Figure B-1, Bureau of Mines RI 8507
(6) Air blast effects. No air blast shall exceed the maximum limits of 133 decibels at no more than two Hertz flat response at any dwelling, public or commercial building, school, church or community or institutional building. All air blast measuring systems shall have at least a flat frequency response range from two Hertz to 200 Hertz.
(7) Fly rock control. "Fly rock" shall be considered as any rock, mud and/or debris which may travel the air or along the ground as a result of blasting. Fly rock shall be controlled by the permit holder by the use of approved blasting matting in such a manner so as to prevent "fly rock" from occurring as a result of any blast.
(g) Surveillance of Blasting.
(1) The contractor shall employ a qualified blasting seismologist (such as Geosonics, Vibra-Tech, etc.), subject to the approval in writing of the Building Inspector or his/her designee, with at least five years practical experience in seismological measuring, to conduct seismological surveillance of all blasting operations in the Municipality. The seismologist shall keep daily records of all blasting activities for a period of not less than three years.
(2) The seismologist will report any violation of this section immediately to the Building Inspector or his/her designee. Upon the violation of any provision of this section, the Building Inspector or his/her designee may cause the immediate revocation of the blasting permit.
(3) The violation of any provision of this chapter shall constitute a forfeiture of any prepaid permit fees or refundable permit fees due the permit holder. Whoever violates the provisions of this section regulating blasting, upon conviction thereof, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and fined in an amount not exceeding one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each offense. In the event any permittee or licensee violates the standards as herein established on more than three separate occasions, as reported by the seismologist, the Building Inspector or his/her designee, shall have authority to take any appropriate action, including but not limited to the following: revoke any and all outstanding blasting permits granted to the benefit of the permittee, licensee or any other individual and/or entity acting through and/or on behalf of the permittee and/or licensee; and to pursue any civil remedy, be it injunctive relief, damages or otherwise, which the Building Inspector deems appropriate.
(4) The seismologist shall issue written reports on each and every blasting event to the Building Inspector or his/her designee and the permit holder, licensee and/or contractor, which reports shall include comments upon compliance with regulations and standards herein established. These reports shall be filed with the Building Inspector or his/her designee within twenty-four hours after each blasting event, or at the latest, prior to the next blasting event if same occurs prior to the expiration of twenty-four hours.
These written reports shall contain the following information:
A. The name of the firm and/or individual conducting the blast;
B. The location, date and time of the blast;
C. The name and signature of the qualified blaster conducting the blast;
D. A report of weather conditions, including temperature, wind direction and velocity, etc;
E. A description of the type of material blasted;
F. The number, diameter and depth of blast holes;
G. The type of, identity of manufacturer of, and amount of, explosives used;
H. The total weight of explosives used;
I. The weight of the explosives per hole;
J. The maximum weight of explosives detonated within any eight millisecond period;
K. The type of initiation or detonation system used;
L. The delay pattern, including the actual firing time of each hole;
M. A sketch, in reasonable detail, of the blast pattern showing all holes, delay patterns, previously blasted material and an indication of north;
N. At the completion on the blasting operation, a final map, in reasonable detail, of the permit area, showing the location of each blast, and identifying each location with the date, time and other pertinent information concerning each blast;
O. Seismographic and air blast records, including the following:
1. The type of instrument, sensitivity, and calibration signal of the device. Also, a certification that the equipment has been calibrated with, within the past year, along with a written indication showing any and all calibrations done within the past year, and the results of those calibrations;
2. The exact sensing location of the measuring instrument, along with an indication of the date, time and place from the blast;
3. A report describing the electronic analysis of frequency vs. particle velocity. This is to be in a format which would demonstrate compliance with the graph which is part of this chapter (Modified Figure B-1, Bureau of Mines, RI 8507);
4. An air blast levels report; and
5. The name of the person and/or firm analyzing the seismographic record.
(h) Penalty. Whoever violates any provision of this section regulating blasting, upon conviction thereof shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000) for each offense. Each separate violation shall be deemed to constitute a separate offense. In the event any permittee or licensee violates the safety standards as herein established on more than three separate occasions, the Building Inspector shall have the authority to refuse to issue any further permits to such permittee or licensee any subsequent time and to pursue such authority with injunctive remedies if necessary. (Ord. 1992-39. Passed 7-13-92.)