[Ord. No. 1770, 6-19-2019]
This Chapter shall be known and may be cited as "The Explosives
Code."
[Ord. No. 1770, 6-19-2019]
When used in this Chapter, the following words shall have the
following meanings as set out herein:
Any material or mixture consisting of a fuel and oxidizer
intended for blasting, not otherwise classified herein as an explosive,
in which none of the ingredients are classified as explosives provided
that the finished product, as mixed and packaged for use or shipment,
cannot be detonated by means of a No. 8 test blasting cap when unconfined.
A No. 8 test blasting cap is one (1) containing two (2) grams
of a mixture of eighty percent (80%) mercury fulminate and twenty
percent (20%) potassium chlorate or a cap of equivalent strength.
The City of Cottleville, Missouri.
The Director of Public Works or his/her designee.
Gunpowder used for blasting, all forms of high explosives,
fuses, detonators and other detonating agents, smokeless powders,
and any chemical compound or mechanical mixture that is commonly used
or intended for the purpose of producing an explosion containing any
oxidizing and combustible units or other ingredients in such proportions,
quantities, or packing, that ignition by fire, by friction, by concussion,
by percussion, by detonation of, by any part of the compound or mixture
may cause such a sudden generation of highly heated gases that the
resultant gas pressures are capable of producing destructive effects
on contiguous objects or of destroying life or limb; but explosives
shall not include small arms ammunition, gasoline, kerosene, or oils,
greases or other petroleum products intended for lubrication purposes.
For the purposes of this Chapter, explosives shall be classified as
Class A, high explosives and Class B, low explosives and said classifications
shall be as follows:
CLASS A, HIGH EXPLOSIVESThose explosives possessing detonating qualities such as dynamite, nitroglycerin, picric acid, lead azide, fulminate of mercury, smokeless powder, blasting caps and detonating primers.
CLASS B, LOW EXPLOSIVESThose explosives not otherwise specified herein as Class A explosives, including, but not limited to, explosives presenting a flammable hazard such as propellant.
Any individual, firm, co-partnership, corporation, company,
association, joint stock association, and including any trustee, receiver,
assignee or personal representative thereof.
Any combustible or explosive composition or manufactured
articles designated and prepared for the purpose of producing audible
or visual effects which are commonly referred to as fireworks.
The actual distance (in feet) to the nearest structure, divided
by the square root of the maximum explosive weight (in pounds) per
eight (8) millisecond (or greater) delay. If delay intervals less
than eight (8) milliseconds are employed or if instantaneous blasting
is employed, scaled distance shall be computed by dividing the actual
distance (in feet) by the square root of the total explosive weight
in pounds.
Words used in the singular number shall include the plural
and in the plural the singular.
Any shotgun, rifle, pistol or revolver cartridge.
Any building not owned or controlled by the explosives user.
[Ord. No. 1770, 6-19-2019]
This Chapter shall apply to the manufacture, storage, sale,
transportation or use of explosives and blasting agents in the City.
It shall not apply to the discharge of fireworks or pyrotechnics and
small arms ammunition when discharged in connection with hunting or
target shooting or other lawful uses connected with firearms.
[Ord. No. 1770, 6-19-2019]
Nothing contained in this Chapter shall be construed as applying
to the regular military or naval forces of the United States, the
duly authorized Militia of the State, the Police or Fire Departments
or to regular employees of the City in the proper performance of their
official duties.
[Ord. No. 1770, 6-19-2019]
A.
It shall be unlawful for any person to possess, store, stock or hold
for resale, any amount of explosives, blasting agents or blasting
caps unless such person has first obtained a written permit therefore
from the Director as hereinafter provided, except for the following
items and amounts:
1.
Smokeless gun powder for hand loading of small arms ammunition.
2.
Thirty (30) pounds of explosives or blasting agents in industrial
research laboratories and laboratories of technical institutes, colleges,
universities and similar institutions.
3.
Retail or wholesale sales of gun powder for hand loading of
small arms ammunition.
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All exceptions listed herein are subject to the Federal Explosives
Law, PL91-452, and amendments.
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[Ord. No. 1770, 6-19-2019]
A.
Application for such permit to possess, store, stock or hold for
sale those items shall be made to the Director on forms provided and
shall contain the following information:
1.
Name of applicant.
2.
Address of applicant.
3.
Place of business.
4.
Occupation.
5.
Age.
6.
Experience in the use of explosives and such other information
relative thereto as the Director may prescribe or require.
7.
Maximum amount of each kind of explosives, blasting agents or
blasting caps applicant intends to store or stock at any one (1) time
and the location and type of construction of the magazine or storage
place of same.
[Ord. No. 1770, 6-19-2019]
A.
A person shall be entitled to a permit to store or stock explosives
or blasting agents in the City who has met the following requirements:
[Ord. No. 1770, 6-19-2019]
A.
It shall be unlawful, without first having received a permit from
the Director, to explode or cause to be exploded, any gunpowder, dynamite,
giant powder, gun cotton or other explosive for the purpose of blasting
out rock, gravel, earth or other like substance within the City.
B.
No person shall use or detonate explosives unless he or she is in
possession of a valid license, obtained from the Director, to use
explosives for blasting purposes. This license shall be known as a
blaster's license. For the purpose of this Chapter, the Director
is authorized to publish qualifications necessary for an applicant
to obtain a blaster's license. Such qualifications shall take
into consideration age, training, education, and experience in the
knowledge and use of explosives and shall include a written examination.
A license shall be issued by the Director to any applicant meeting
the requirements set forth by the Director for such a license. Anyone
currently licensed as a blaster by other governmental agencies shall
be eligible for a license without taking an exam.
C.
The handling of explosives may be performed by other employees provided
the work is done under the direct supervision of the person holding
the permit to use explosives and providing such employees are at least
twenty-one (21) years of age.
D.
The person possessing a valid blaster's license shall be in
charge of all blasting operations. If there is more than one (1) person
possessing such a license on any one (1) operation, one (1) will be
designated as being blaster in charge and shall be responsible for
the entire operation.
[Ord. No. 1770, 6-19-2019]
A.
Application for a permit to use explosives shall be made to the Director
on forms provided and shall contain the following information:
1.
Name of applicant.
2.
Address of residence.
3.
Place of business.
4.
Occupation.
5.
Age.
6.
The location where the blasting is to be done, the type of blasting
material to be used in each charge, the maximum charge with the required
delay, approximate location of charges and the manner in which the
material is to be detonated.
7.
The approximate times and dates of blasting. A blasting permit
shall only be valid for period not to exceed ninety (90) days, unless
it is an on-going mining operation. A blasting permit for mining shall
be renewed on an annual basis.
8.
The name, age and address of the blaster or blasters who shall
be the person or persons who shall actually detonate or have actual
charge of the detonation of any explosive or blasting agent.
9.
Blaster's license number.
B.
In addition to the above information, there shall be attached to
the application for a permit to blast, the following: A certificate
of liability insurance in the minimum amount of one million dollars
($1,000,000.00) for injury to persons and property resulting from
the blasting operations. Such insurance shall be carried in a firm
or corporation which has been duly licensed or permitted to carry
on such business in the State of Missouri and shall be kept and maintained
continuously in force and effect for the duration of the blasting
permit.
[Ord. No. 1770, 6-19-2019]
A.
All blasting operations within the City shall be conducted in strict
accordance with the following rules and regulations and it shall be
unlawful for any person to fail to observe and follow said rules and
regulations when blasting. In the event there is a violation of said
rules and regulations, the Director shall have the power and it shall
be his/her duty to revoke the blasting permit issued in connection
with the operation, revoke the license of the blaster in charge, all
in accordance with the terms of this Chapter, and in addition, the
violator or violators may be punished as otherwise provided by this
Chapter for violations thereof.
1.
Blasting operations shall be carried on with the smallest possible
number of persons present.
2.
Before firing any blast, all means of access to the danger zone
(the extent of which shall be determined by the blaster, but in no
case to be closer to the explosion than the blaster), shall be effectively
guarded to exclude all unauthorized personnel. When practical, the
blaster shall then sound a warning of sufficient intensity and duration
to be distinctly audible to all persons within the danger zone and
all such persons shall retire beyond the danger zone. The danger zone
shall then be examined by the blaster to make certain that all persons
have retired therefrom to a place of safety. No blast shall be fired
while any person is in the danger zone.
3.
When the point of explosion is within three hundred (300) feet
of a roadway, the blaster shall, just prior to the blast, designate
a sufficient number of employees of the operator, each carrying a
red warning flag, to stop all vehicular and pedestrian traffic on
each possible route of travel within three hundred fifty (350) feet
of the point of explosion until the blast has been fired.
4.
No person shall return to the danger zone until permitted to
do so by the blaster as announced by audible or visual signal.
5.
Immediately following the blast the area shall be examined by
the blaster for evidence of misfired charges.
6.
All misfires shall be reported at once to the superintendent
or manager who shall then determine the safe and proper method of
disposal. The unexploded charge shall be detonated if such can be
accomplished without risk of injury to personnel or damage to property.
7.
When electric blasting caps are transported in a motor vehicle,
equipped with a radio transmitter, they shall either be in their original
package or stored in a closed metal box that is lined with a cushioning
material such as wood or sponge rubber. When the electric caps are
being placed into or removed from the box, the transmitter shall not
be used.
8.
Unless otherwise expressly authorized in writing by the Director,
all blasting operations shall be conducted at no less distance from
any fixed or mobile radio transmitter than indicated in the following
table:
|
Transmitter Power Output in Watts
|
Minimum Distance From Blasting Operations Using Electric Blasting
Caps, in Feet
|
|---|---|
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5 — 25
|
100
|
|
25 — 50
|
150
|
|
50 — 100
|
220
|
|
100 — 250
|
350
|
|
250 — 500
|
450
|
|
500 — 1,000
|
650
|
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1,000 — 2,500
|
1,000
|
|
2,500 — 5,000
|
1,500
|
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5,000 — 10,000
|
2,200
|
|
10,000 — 25,000
|
3,500
|
|
25,000 — 50,000
|
5,000
|
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50,000 — 100,000
|
7,000
|
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When it can be demonstrated by means of approved tests that
electric blasting may be carried out at lesser distances from the
transmitter than required by the table shown, the Director may allow
a variation from the requirements of said table.
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When blasting operations are located near highways or other
public ways, signs shall be erected at least five hundred (500) feet
from the blast areas reading: "BLAST AREA — SHUT OFF ALL TWO-WAY
RADIOS." The letters of these signs shall be not less than four (4)
inches in height on a contrasting background.
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9.
Under no circumstances shall the amount of explosives taken
within three hundred (300) feet of a potential point of explosion
exceed the amount estimated by the blaster as necessary for the blast.
Such explosives shall be stacked in piles at least twenty-five (25)
feet from the nearest holes being loaded and at such distances apart
and that any premature explosion will not be likely to propagate from
one (1) pile to another.
10.
The explosives containers, if any, shall be opened at the pile
and carried up to the hole, one (1) case or unit at a time for immediate
loading or placed at a loading station not less than six (6) feet
from the hole except that not more than one hundred (100) pounds of
explosives shall be allowed at the loading station at any one (1)
time. All empty explosives containers (boxes, bags, crates, etc.)
shall be properly disposed of, daily, in a safe manner.
11.
Explosives shall be distributed in such a manner that the distances
from storage piles to the allowable maximum quantity of one hundred
(100) pounds of explosives at the loading station or between such
one hundred (100) pound loading station piles shall not be less than
the quantities shown in the following quantity-distance table:
|
Pounds of Explosives
|
Distance Between Piles of Explosives in Feet
|
|---|---|
|
Up to 50
|
21
|
|
100
|
25
|
|
200
|
32
|
|
300
|
37
|
|
400
|
41
|
|
500
|
44
|
|
750
|
50
|
|
1,000
|
55
|
|
1,500
|
64
|
|
2,000
|
70
|
|
2,500
|
75
|
|
5,000
|
96
|
|
10,000
|
123
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12.
Excessively large amounts of explosives shall not be delivered
to the loading area at one (1) time. If deliveries of explosives are
made by truck, the quantity permitted at or near the loading operations
shall be limited to one (1) truck load. Other trucks loaded with explosives
shall wait or be unloaded in separate safe places away from the loading
operations.
13.
Explosives in excess of immediate requirements when removed
from the main storage magazine and delivered in the vicinity of a
blasting operation, shall be stored in a Class II magazine.
14.
Caps shall not be brought to the loading area nor attached to
the detonating fuse until all is in readiness to fire the blast.
15.
Blast matting (which may include earth) shall be required when
blast operations and/or geological conditions create fly rock that
could damage or injure persons or property.
16.
In all blasting operations, except as hereinafter otherwise
provided, the maximum peak particle velocity of any one (1) of three
(3) mutually perpendicular components of the ground motion in the
vertical and horizontal directions shall not exceed one (1) inch per
second at the property line of the blast site. The Director may grant
an exception to the rule when it is not an ongoing blasting operation.
17.
Seismographic instrumentation shall be required on any blast
site where the nearest uncontrolled structure or public utility is
located within a scaled distance of sixty-five (65). An uncontrolled
structure is defined as any occupied building not owned or controlled
by the explosives user. The seismograph shall be placed at or near
the closest uncontrolled structure(s).
18.
Instrumentation shall be in good operating condition and be
properly calibrated with a current (within one (1) year of date of
use) calibration sticker affixed to each instrument. If an instrument(s)
is found to be not operating properly or out of calibration, blasting
operations shall be halted until the appropriate repairs or recalibration
are performed or a proper instrument(s) is provided. Seismograph operator
shall be trained in the use of that instrument(s).
19.
Blasting operations without instrumentation will be considered
as being within the limits set forth in this Subsection if at a specified
location on at least five (5) blasts instrumentation has shown that
the maximum peak particle velocity at the specified location is fifty
percent (50%) or less of the limit set forth in this Subsection, and
with written permission from the Director, provided, that for all
future blasts the scaled distance is equal to or greater than the
scaled distance for the instrumental blast.
However, if a scaled distance less than thirty-five (35) is
employed, a seismograph is required regardless of the seismic readings
of previous blasts. "Scaled distance" means the actual distance in
feet divided by the square root of the maximum explosive weight in
pounds that is detonated per delay period for delay intervals of eight
(8) milliseconds or greater. If delay intervals less than eight (8)
milliseconds are employed or if instantaneous blasting is employed,
scaled distance shall be computed by dividing the actual distance
in feet by the square root of the total explosive weight in pounds.
Blasting operations which would result in ground vibrations that would
have a particle velocity of any one (1) of three (3) mutually perpendicular
components in excess of thirty-hundredths (0.30) inches per second
and a frequency of less than twenty (20) Hertz at any uncontrolled
structure is prohibited. In addition, blasting is prohibited below
the frequency of three (3) Hertz. Blasting at frequencies of twenty
(20) Hertz to thirty (30) Hertz shall not exceed a particle velocity
of any one (1) of three (3) mutually perpendicular components of fifty-hundredths
(0.50) inches per second. Blasting at frequencies above thirty (30)
Hertz shall not exceed a particle velocity of any one (1) of three
(3) mutually perpendicular components of eighty-hundredths (0.80)
inches per second. The Director may grant an exception to the requirements
of this Subsection for blasting operations of less than thirty (30)
days' duration, provided that such operations do not exceed the
following limits at the nearest uncontrolled structure:
a.
The maximum peak particle velocity of any one (1) or three (3)
mutually perpendicular components of the ground motion in the vertical
and horizontal directions shall not exceed fifty-hundredths (0.50)
inches per second for blasts below ten (10) Hertz or one (1.0) inches
per second for blasts from ten (10) to thirty (30) Hertz or one and
five-tenths (1.5) inches per second for blasts above thirty (30) Hertz.
b.
The maximum air blast shall not exceed one hundred twenty (120)
decibels at two (2) Hertz flat response and above.
20.
Airblast Limitations And Measurements.
a.
Airblast shall be controlled so that it does not exceed the
maximum limit specified below at any uncontrolled structure. Airblast
monitoring equipment shall be used for all blasts at the nearest uncontrolled
structure and records of that monitoring shall be retained for at
least one (1) year for review by and production to the Director.
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Lower Frequency Limits of Measuring System, Hz (+ 3dB)
|
Maximum Level in dB
|
|---|---|
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2 Hertz or higher — flat response
|
120 peak
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b.
All measuring systems used shall have a flat frequency response
of at least two hundred (200) Hz at the upper end.
21.
When blasting in the vicinity of uncontrolled structures the
explosives users will determine the structures lying within a scaled
distance of thirty-five (35). The distance will be determined by the
following:
 |
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Where D is the distance limit and W is the maximum charge weight
per 8 ms delay interval. The explosives user shall contact the owners
of structures within the distance limit and offer to have a pre-blast
inspection performed on their structure at no cost to the owner.
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[Ord. No. 1770, 6-19-2019]
Unless otherwise set forth in this Chapter, blasting agents
shall be transported, stored and used in the same manner as explosives.
Storage of explosives shall comply with the 2015 International Fire
Code, as adopted by St. Charles County in Section 500.400 of the Ordinances
of St. Charles County, Missouri, as amended.
[Ord. No. 1770, 6-19-2019]
Buildings or other facilities used for mixing blasting agents
shall be located, with respect to inhabited buildings, passenger railroads
and public highways, in accordance with the 2015 International Fire
Code, as adopted by St. Charles County in Section 500.400 of the Ordinances
of St. Charles County, Missouri, as amended.
[Ord. No. 1770, 6-19-2019]
Persons using blasting agents shall comply with all of the applicable
provisions of this Chapter for the use of explosives.
