Pennsylvania Litigation Blog

In the case Wampum Hardware Co v. DEP (March 2009), the Environmental Hearing Board sustained an appeal of a DEP order which was issued to Wampum relative to a blast at Wampum's quarry. The blast in question ejected rock into the air, which rock was expelled several hundred feet from the site of the blast. The blaster established a 950 foot safety zone which was nearly twice the size required by DEP regulations. No rock was expelled from the safety zone. The closest that any rock landed to any person on the site was 250 feet. Rock from the blast traveled up to 700 feet from the blast, which clearly was beyond what would have been the required safety zone under the regulations. The regulation that DEP relied on to issue the Order provided: “blasting…may not be done or performed in a manner…constituting a hazard or danger or do harm or damage to persons or property in the area of the blasting.” The Board found that there was no evidence that any harm or hazard to persons or property in the area of the blasting, due to the size of the safety zone. As part of DEP's order, Wampum was direct to revise its blasting plan and as a result, agreed to change the material used for stemming shots, to lower the depth of stemming and to increase the delay in shots, each of which were designed to decrease the potential for flyrock. It appears that the Board missed the point that the blast at issue was not properly designed and fired, as rock traveled well beyond what would have been anticipated within the typical safety zone, the fact that no one was hurt was not due to design, but rather good luck.