Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Woman says blasts collapsed well, cracked walls and floor

    Experts say today's blasting from the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center doesn't damage structures, but what about in the past?

    Socorro resident Joyce Gaines Harris said in an interview that a blast from the testing center, then called the Terminal Effects Research and Analysis group, collapsed her well and otherwise damaged property at Water Canyon Lodge almost 20 years ago. The test range property was less than 1-1/2 miles behind her land.

    "They literally put me out of business," Harris said.

    Tech Vice President of Research and Economic Development Van Romero thinks it's unlikely blasts now or years ago could cause damage. The testing center used the same safe guards then as it does now.

    Romero didn't work for Tech when the issue of the damaged well arose, but asked other people about the incident.

    Romero said the testing center was firing a tank gun at the time for customer company Olin. The amount of energy the activity would have sent into the ground is almost nothing, he said.

    Romero said noise was the only hazard, but it was within legal limits.

    According to an article from the July/August edition of the alternative, activist Z Magazine, the well collapsed in October 1989. Immediately after a blast, Harris found the water wasn't working.

    Harris filed a lawsuit against Tech, TERA , customer company Honeywell and Olin in 1989. She received an out-of-court settlement that wasn't enough to pay for a new well, she said.

    While the university and companies never admitted responsibility, Harris said one of their lawyers privately apologized to her and said the defendants knew they'd caused the problem. She doesn't remember the man's name.

    Romero said Olin, not Tech, made the settlement, probably because they weren't interested in expenses of a prolonged court battle. He said TERA investigated but found no plausible evidence the noise caused problems.

    "And the only activity was noise from the gun, and that couldn't really do any damage," Romero said.

    In the article by Joan Cavanagh, Harris said "really heavy" blasting by Honeywell and Olin in 1987 coincided with the disappearance of most wildlife on the property, cracks forming in the walls and concrete floor, and the beginning of contaminated water samples. The pollution apparently came from pieces of well casing the blasts dislodged, according to the article.

    The article quotes several Socorro residents describing cracks appearing and plaster falling in houses or offices, often when the buildings were shaking from an explosion's effects.

    Romero said he had heard such stories.

    "That would have to be very serendipitous for you to happen to be looking at the right place at your house at the right time," he said of cracks forming.

    Romero said the ground movement from blasts is insignificant compared to motion from the small earthquakes Socorro regularly has. The earthquakes cause settling.

    People notice explosions because of noise and air overpressure, Romero said.

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