PA Agency Suspends Blasting Licenses

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has suspended the Pennsylvania blasting licenses held by two employees of a Maryland company for 15 days following the discovery of 25 violations during a residential housing development project in Chester County.

The employees worked for T. J. Angelozzi Inc. of Woodbine, Md. The violations included exceeding the amount of blasting material used, failure to use a seismograph and keeping deficient records. DEP may file $2,500 in summary citations, $100 for each violation, against the blasting company as well.

“While we are grateful no damages or injuries occurred as a result of this company’s mistakes, we are still compelled to levy the appropriate punishment for these errors, which easily could have resulted in a more serious situation,” said J. Scott Roberts, DEP deputy secretary for Mineral Resources Management. “This company should have known better in this situation and hopefully this will send a message to them and to others that they have to follow the rules at all times, especially as related to blasting activities.”

A seismograph is used during blasting to monitor air and ground vibrations and records frequency of all ground vibration events. This helps to ensure that the scale of the blasts does not exceed the limitations listed in the blasting activities permit and that the blasting does not excessively shake nearby homes.

The violations occurred between Jan. 9 and Feb. 11. The main contractor for the development is Dixie Construction, also of Maryland.