[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Newburgh 9-23-1974
as Ch. 125 of the 1974 Municipal Code. Amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Blasting Law of
the Town of Newburgh."
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meanings
indicated:
The duly appointed Building Inspector of the Town of Newburgh.
Includes a person, persons, firm, partnership, corporation or other
entity capable of being sued.
A.Â
It shall be unlawful for any person to blast or carry
on any blasting operations unless he is the holder of a blaster's license
issued by the State of New York and unless he obtains a permit for the proposed
work from the Building Inspector.[1]
B.Â
Permits for blasting shall only be issued to persons
holding a blaster's license or to contractors who have in their employ
persons holding such licenses.
C.Â
The permit shall state the location for which it is approved,
the date issued, the name of the person authorized to do the blasting and
such other information as the Building Inspector may deem necessary.
D.Â
The permit shall be good only for the one (1) location
designated therein, shall not be transferable and shall expire not later than
one (1) year from the date thereof.
The permit shall not be issued until the applicant shall submit to the
Town of Newburgh a certificate of general public liability insurance in the
amount of one million dollars ($1,000,000.) for personal injury and one hundred
thousand dollars ($100,000.) for for property damage, executed by the carrier
or its authorized representative. The certificate shall provide that said
policy will not be canceled except on ten (10) days' notice in writing
to the Town of Newburgh. Should the Building Inspector determine that the
extent of the blasting operations in any particular case and the danger involved
require public liability insurance coverage in greater amounts than above
specified, he shall immediately certify his determination to the Town Clerk
and simultaneously request that the Town Board fix the policy limits. The
Town Board shall meet as expeditiously as possible for said purpose, and said
Town Board is hereby authorized and empowered to fix the policy limits in
such amount or amounts as the Town Board shall deem commensurate with the
scope of the blasting operations and the dangers involved, not exceeding,
however, the following amounts: two million dollars ($2,000,000.) for each
person injured, three million dollars ($3,000,000.) for each accident and
five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000.) property damage. Such liability
insurance policy shall be issued by an insurance company authorized to do
business in New York State and the certificate approved as to form and sufficiency
by the Town Attorney, and, after such approval, said certificate of insurance
shall be filed with the Town Clerk.
[Amended 6-19-1978 by L.L. No. 2-1978]
Application for such permit shall be accompanied by an permit fee as prescribed by Chapter 104, Fees.
A.Â
Before the issuance of any permit, the applicant must
also file with the Town Clerk a surety bond or letter of credit which shall
be in the form prescribed by the Town Attorney and signed by the applicant
as principal and by a solvent surety company authorized to transact business
within the State of New York as surety thereon and must meet with the written
approval of the Town Attorney as to form, correctness and sufficiency of surety,
and which bond shall indemnify all persons and the Town of Newburgh against
any loss, expense, cost or damages of any kind or nature to persons or property
resulting from blasting during the license period. The liability hereby imposed
upon the applicant shall be one of absolute liability for any such loss, expense,
cost or damages of any kind or nature to persons or property resulting from
blasting, with or without trespass, and shall not depend upon any question
of negligence upon his part or upon the part of his agents, servants or employees.
The neglect of anyone to direct the applicant, his agents, servants or employees
to take any particular precaution or to refrain from doing any particular
thing shall not excuse the applicant from the liability hereby imposed upon
him. Said bond, after approval by the Town Attorney, shall be filed with the
Town Clerk. Each applicant for renewal shall furnish a bond as hereinabove
provided.
B.Â
Should the Building Inspector determine that the extent
of the blasting operations in any particular case and the dangers involved
do not require insurance coverage in greater amounts than one million dollars
($1,000,000.) for each personal injury, one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000.)
for each accident and five thousand dollars ($5,000.) for property damages,
then in such case the sum of the surety bond shall be fifty thousand dollars
($50,000.); but should the Building Inspector determine that said operations
and damages involved require insurance coverage in greater amounts and so
reports to the Town Board and requests the Town Board to fix the policy limits,
then in such case the Town Board shall determine and fix the amount of the
surety bond, not, however, exceeding one million dollars ($1,000,000.)
The applicant shall also satisfy the Building Inspector that any magazine
to be used for the storage of explosives on the work for which the blasting
permit is desired has been duly licensed by the Commissioner of Labor of the
State of New York, as provided in Article 16, § 458, of the Labor
Law.
It shall be unlawful to blast or carry on any blasting operation after
7:00 p.m. or before 8:00 a.m., nor shall any blasting be done on Sunday, except
with the approval of the Building Inspector.
A.Â
Quantity of explosive per hole. No person shall use in
a blasting operation a quantity of explosive greater than necessary properly
to start the rock.
B.Â
Covering blasts. Before firing any blasts, except where
the same is in a tunnel, the material to be blasted shall be covered on the
top and sides with timber, held securely together by strong chains or ropes
of iron or steel and covered with sheets of tin or heavy woven matting of
rope or wire.
C.Â
Firing. It shall be unlawful to explode a blasting charge
by means of time, slow-burning or safety fuses or by any means other than
some form of electrical apparatus. At least three (3) minutes before firing
a blast, the blaster shall give warning thereof by causing a competent man,
carrying a red flag, to be stationed at a reasonable distance from the blast
at each avenue of approach or point of danger.
D.Â
Shoring. The blasting of rock contiguous to any structure
shall be so conducted as not to cause damage thereto. To this end, weak walls
or other supports shall be shored up, and rotten or decomposed rock shall
be removed only by use of gads, picks or crowbars. When blasting in the vicinity
of a weak structure is unavoidable, only light face blasts with short lines
of resistance and charges shall be used.
E.Â
Tamping. Blasting charges shall be tamped only by means
of wooden tamping rods, and explosives shall be pressed or set into place
by steady, even pressure only. All strokes or blows with the tamping rods
are forbidden, and no tamping rod shall be used which is frayed or split at
the end.
F.Â
Unexploded charge. Immediately after firing a blast,
the blaster shall cause all debris to be removed and shall thoroughly examine
the rock and the drill holes to ascertain whether there remains any unexploded
charge, and until this is done no drills shall be set up. In case a charge
shall fail to explode, it must be exploded by drilling one (1) hole at least
twelve (12) inches away, which shall be loaded and fired in the usual manner,
but in no case shall the charge and tamping be removed from the hole without
the special permission of the Building Inspector. In case a blast shall fail
to carry away the entire drill hole and leaves the lower part intact, no further
drilling shall be done in that hole.
G.Â
Blaster's helpers. No person shall load holes in
blasting operations except the blaster authorized by the license; provided,
however, that while holes are being actually loaded, drillers and drill helpers
may act as blaster's helpers under the direct supervision and responsibility
of the licensed blaster.
H.Â
Capping cartridges. Cartridges, while being capped, shall
be removed from any magazine to a distance of not less than fifty (50) feet
and, after being capped, shall not be returned to a magazine. Cartridges shall
be capped only as required for the work and for immediate use.
The violation of any of the provisions of this chapter or failure to
comply therewith shall be an offense and punishable by a fine which shall
not exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250.) or by imprisonment for a term
not exceeding fifteen (15) days, or both, and each day such violation shall
be permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense. The application
of the above penalty shall not be held to prevent the enforced removal of
the prohibited conditions.
