The Case of The Missing Seismograph.. What Else Could Be Missing??

You may recall that some time back we started asking some questions about Sauls Seismic. This company was cited as authoritative by Boxley in connection to the Flat Creek Quarry, they were also used here in Fieldale as documented in the Martinsville Bulletin October 3, 2005. The Bulletin article states (with emphasis added by us):

“Boxley hired Saul’s Seismic after Riley complained to the company.”

http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/article.cfm?ID=1204&back=archives

Boxley stated in the Roanoke Times and World News that “neither the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality nor an insurance investigator has found evidence to substantiate such complaints”. Was that  “insurance investigator” Sauls?  Who hired and paid the investigator?

Now we find the following report online at http://www.athensworld.com/2009/07/what-would-pawn-shop-give-for.html:

“According to the county police:

Between 1400 June 15 and 1400 July 15 a seismograph with wireless modem, total value $4,700, was stolen from behind apartments at 393 Oconee St. The unit is owned by SAUL’S SEISMIC INC of Atlanta.”

This raises some interesting questions we’d like to ask. You have a wireless modem in the seismograph and you can’t narrow down the date it went missing to a period of less than a month? That is interesting. What is the purpose of the wireless modem? Could it be to “talk” to the unit regularly to check readings? If you don’t know within a 30 day period when an important piece of your business equipment went missing, how often are you checking it, especially when it has a wireless modem?

 Is this just a case of a missing seismograph or could it also be a case of missing monitoring of the unit? Just asking some questions based off a news report.

FACES In Roanoke Star Sentinel

  We’re Baaaack. Of course we haven’t really been gone. We’ve been busy researching and preparing to gear up again for our fall campaign. As part of this, we addressed some lingering issues we had with The Roanoke Times and World News allowing Boxley to have a rebuttal to our statements in their June article (a privilege we did not get).  We also noted they were allowed to “counter” part of our statements as opposed to the whole which included a list of documented facts. When advised of this the Times pretty much said “oh well” even when we produced official documents showing we are correct – which we could have done had we been given a chance to “counter” but apparently at the Times that’s a one-way street.

   The latest issue of the Roanoke Star Sentinel published an editorial in which FACES addressed for the public the things The Times seems uninterested in. Most of those things are posted here on the website so we won’t republish the editorial, but let it be clear.. we are here to stay, we have the facts, and we will be heard. Get ready, more to come.

Concrete Truth 2 – The Documents “Counter”

For Immediate Release

Fieldale And Carver Environmental Society (FACES) has announced publication of documents countering an assertion made by Boxley in an article published in The Roanoke Times and World News on Sunday June 7, 2009. In the article the company was given an opportunity to “counter” comments made by a FACES representative where only an abbreviated version of comments made by our representative were published. Also none of the documentation mentioned or the FACES website link was published, however Boxley’s website address was prominently displayed at the end of the article.   In the article – in “counter” to the statements by FACES spokesman, Boxley “countered” that “neither the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality nor an insurance investigator has found evidence to substantiate such complaints”. Those complaints being “excessive dust” and potential structural damage. Although it should be noted that at no time has FACES made any official definitive statement on structural damage. We have published excerpts from court documents on our website affirming that structural damage is possible, and that court documents seem to contradict public statements made about blasting in relation to structural damage. The reference to DEQ is in relation to the dust complaints, since DEQ has no role in investigating structural damage.    

  Today’s article published by FACES asserts that in relation to “excessive dust” the Department of Environmental Quality has issued documents indicating evidence of it and furthermore that Boxley did in fact receive a “Notice of Violation” from DEQ, and an ‘Air Inspection Report” filed by DEQ states”staff members (Lisa Young and Frank Adams) observed excess fugitive emissions from the facility”. FACES also has a letter on Boxley letterhead signed by Timothy D. Mauzy Resource Engineer which pays a $2,100 civil penalty in reference to a “consent order”. These documents – including a copy of Boxley’s check #21687- were obtained by FACES researchers under the Freedom of Information Act.  All information published by FACES is based  on official DEQ documents and / or information issued by Boxley and signed by their employees. It is intended for educational purposes. We will not publish the copy of the actual check online at this time out of consideration for Boxley’s privacy, however copies of the other documents are posted at links found on http://fieldale.wordpress.com.

 For more information:

 email : faces@post.com

Due to wordpress limitations further documents are posted here:

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll313/faces24089/MauzyLetter.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll313/faces24089/NoticeofViol1.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll313/faces24089/NoticeofViol2.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll313/faces24089/NoticeofViol3.jpg

 

 

DEQ Notice of Violation citing "staff's observations of Fugitive Dust"

Concrete Truth… notice of violation, consent order and civil penalty

  According to the article posted at :

http://www.roanoke.com/business/wb/207337

Quote:

He said the quarry is a source of “excessive dust” and that people have complained about the noise of blasting and reported related structural damage to homes. FACES also has alleged sediment has increased in Jordan Creek.

Boxley countered that blasting at the quarry is “well below the threshold limits for damage to a structure” and said that neither the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality nor an insurance investigator has found evidence to substantiate such complaints.

End Quote

   Boxley “would have you believe” (a phrase they tried to use on us) that we have not done our homework and that nothing has been found to substantiate our complaints.  They want you to think we don’t know what we are talking about. We suspect that they think you will believe what they say about us because they said it in the newspaper.

 Now for the facts. 

  FACES researchers have in their possession a copy of a NOTICE OF VIOLATION from (guess who)  the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality which cites “fugitive dust“.  As they say on TV … but wait there’s more!!! We have in out hands a copy of a letter on Boxley letterhead signed by Timothy D. Mauzy Resource Engineer which states:

“To whom it may concern,

“I have enclosed a payment in the amount of $2,100.00 to satisfy a civil penalty imposed by Section D, Item 1 of the above referenced consent order. The Federal Identification Number of Blue Ridge Stone Corp. is 54-0144200.”

 We also have a copy of the check used to pay this civil penalty (check #21687), and all the related paperwork.

According to an Air Inspection report filed by DEQ , “staff members (Lisa Young and Frank Adams) observed excess fugitive emissions from the facility.”

Yet Boxley “would have you believe” that DEQ has never found evidence to substantiate these complaints.???

We will address the part about the insurance investigators later (note DEQ has nothing to do with investigating structural damage so they have to be talking about dust when they cite DEQ).

We’ve got lots more stuff coming up.  All these newspaper public relations  articles have accomplished is to strengthen our resolve.

The documents relating to the notice of violation, consent order and civil penalty paid will be scanned and posted on this site by Thursday night, so check back and see for yourself.

 

Why We Are Here – Facing Facts

Fieldale And Carver Environmental Society exists to improve the quality of life for all citizens of the Fieldale and Carver areas of Henry County. Our concerns are the health, safety and well-being of the people in our community as well as their right to peaceful enjoyment of their property.
We work hard to provide documentation to support what we publish and we stand for the free-speech provided by our founding fathers and defended by our men and women who have fought to preserve these freedoms.
We have a page of youtube videos available at the link below in this article that illustrate what routinely occurs in our residential community -near our churches, school, and park. Ironically the company’s own receipts state “Warning Avoid Breathing Dust From This Product”, a copy of this receipt can be viewed on this site.
We have also published documents from the Henry County Public Service Authority which state that problems with our public utilities have realtion to quarry blasts (see the fact sheet below for exact quotes from this document), yet to our knowledge nothing was ever done about it.

  We have shown that a Fieldale citizen who praised the quarry before the Campbell County Board of Supervisors in the official meeting minutes stating “He has had no damage to his property as a result of the quarry or any ill health effects from dust.” was also pictured on the front page of The Martinsville Bulletin on Wednesday March 13, 1991 as he “looked into hole in bedroom wall he said was caused by rock from quarry”

Sources: Martinsville Bulletin March 13, 1991

and

Campbell County Board of Supervisors Meeting Minutes Oct. 2008

We have shown that an oil spill took place in August 2001 identifying an “anonymous” reporter as stating up to 40 gallons of hydraulic oil was spilled in the area of Jordan Creek with the “suspected responsible party” being the organization Boxley Aggregates. Clean-up efforts appear to have consisted of dumping some sand and  attempting to dig the material up. What amount made it into the water is “unknown”. This was never made public until we uncovered the documents, being almost 8 years later we can not now say what might have happened.

 We have also exposed how so much of what the industry bemoans as “stringent” regulation is actually comprised of “self-monitoring” and “self-reporting” and questioned who would ever be caught under such a system.

  We have shown that in spite of public statements made by the companies hired by quarries to dismiss the possibility of home damages from blasting - that employees of these same companies have apparently stated in court documents that “The items that fell from Ms. Rodgers wall, and the sheetrock defects that I observed are all items which occur as a result of blasting near a standing structure.” and “I can affirm that the blasting was a contributing cause to the septic tank collapsing.” We have also published a document the industry uses to “handle” anyone who complains about blasting. This document states that the “Important Point To Remember” is:

“You must be genuine with any expression of caring or empathy or the homeowner will know that you are fake.”

Fieldale And Carver Environmental Society QUARRY FACT SHEET

1. Do good neighbors get complaint petitions?

In 2005 petitions of complaint signed by 75 residents of the community around Boxley’s Fieldale quarry were presented to the Henry County Board of Supervisors. Source: Martinsville Bulletin September 28, 2005. The citizens also went back to the Henry County Board of Supervisors with their concerns in July of 2006. Source: Martinsville Bulletin July 26, 2006

2. Water Issues & Off Site Effects:

“The primary problem with this part of the system is the blasting shaking the lines and disturbing the buildup resulting in orange water.”

“Also it should be noted that line trash in the Carver area can be related back to the quarry blasting.“

Source: Henry County Public Service Authority report dated March 23, 2007.

3. “Environmental Awards” ???:

Boxley recently received the prestigious sounding “Bronze Award for Environmental Excellence” from the National Stone Sand and Gravel Association. Who is the NSSGA and how much money was contributed to them by Mr. Ab Boxley? Mr. Boxley gave the NSSGA $1,000 per year in 2006 and 2007 and as recently as February 2008, source: www.opensecrets.org. The NSSGA is basically an industry lobbying group. Why do so many of Boxley’s “environmental awards” seem to come from industry lobbying groups or those they send money to?

4.Dust, Blasting, and the Environment:

According to the back of receipts (source: issued by Boxley) you should “avoid breathing dust from this product”. Do you see dust leaving their facility and going into the community on this site?

 If anyone has any information or documents that could be used on this site you may send them anonymously by email to faces@post.com . All sources will remain anonymous.

 It is not the intention of this site to say that Boxley does no good things, but they have well-paid publicists to say that for them. In fact one of those publicists was among the first to view this website and emailed it to the officers of Boxley according to our source. It is also not our intent to “shut them down” as some would have you believe. Our intent is to present facts about what is going on in a residential community and is in our opinion being ignored.  We have no illusions, this is a true David and Goliath battle and we have no money or resources save for determination and faith in The Lord. But, when David went up against Goliath everyone else was saying Goliath was too big to hit, David decided that with God’s help Goliath was too big to miss.

 

 

 See our youtube page:

http://www.youtube.com/user/faces24089

Windblown dust from Boxley Quarry obscures view of Route 220 Bypass:

“There is tonic in the things that men do not love to hear. Free speech is to a great people what the winds are to oceans ” Henry Ward Beecher

“The Framers [of the Constitution] knew that free speech is the friend of change and revolution. But they also knew that it is always the deadliest enemy of tyranny.” – Hugo Black

Blasting Damage Called A “Coincidence”???

An interesting item found in the Adair Progress notes that blasting damage can be called a “coincidence” even when you had a pre-blast survey done by a certain company with connections to Boxley. One has to wonder why anyone allows them to do pre-blast surveys when you still run into problems like the gentleman in the article encountered. We wonder how much Nashville paid to have pre-blast surveys done recently, and how at ease this makes those in the Nashville blast area feel. Thank goodness blasting never causes any problems… as long as you ask those doing the blasts that is.
Below is an excerpt from the article along with the link to the full article.
Quote:
“After the blasting started, company president Jim Hadley said that they began noticing large cracks spreading through the ceramic floor tile in the office section of the building, and even more worrisome, cracks began appearing in the large concrete floors in the manufacturing section.
Concerned about the damages, Hadley said that he contacted Hayden Brothers Construction, the subcontractor doing the construction work, and was able to talk to the job superintendent.
This was three or four months ago, Hadley said, and it has taken this long for him to get an answer about the damage from the blasting.
Because of their location so close to the bypass, Hadley said that Saul’s Seismic Service from Louisville came in a did a pre-blast survey of their facility on behalf of the road contractors.
“They came in and took a lot of pictures, checked everything out,” he said. “There weren’t any cracks in the floors then.”
Despite having the pre-blast survey done, Hadley said that the initial response they received was that the companies didn’t believe that the blasting caused the damages.
However, after a period of time, Hadley said that a representative from Transportation Insurance Co., which insures Haydon Brothers Contracting, agreed to conduct an investigation to determine whether or not the damages were caused by the blasting.
Finally, in late April, the company finally received a letter from the insurance company, which stated that following their investi-gation, they did not believe that the damages were caused by the blasting.
“The letter was signed by Robert Remy, so I called and got him on the phone,” Hadley said. “When I asked him if the blasting wasn’t responsible for the cracks in our concrete and tiles, how come we didn’t have any cracks until after the blasting started, and he told me it was just a coincidence.
“Well, I was standing in our office more than once when they shot off a blast, and immediately after, cracks would start appearing in our tiles and concrete,” he continued. “I don’t believe that’s what you would call a coincidence.”
Majestic Yacht’s manufacturing facility isn’t the only building that has allegedly been damaged by the blasting for the road.”
End Quote
Link:http://adairprogress.com/News/1423.html

NOMIS Questions

From http://nssga.blogspot.com/ comes this report:

“McRoy Sauls from Sauls Seismic told of selling ten seismographs in just an hour during the show today.”

This information provided by NSSGA made us curious. We checked around the web & ran across NOMIS seismographs on the Sauls website. Our reading raised some questions. Based on information on the Sauls website and other info on the web it appears that Sauls is the parent company of NOMIS which makes seismographs, repairs them and calibrates them. They are located on the same street in the same city. They also have some interesting forums where users of their machines discuss “problems” with the equipment in several topic threads.

It is law in most places that each instrument requires regular recalibration.

Who calibrates Sauls and the NOMIS?

It appears possible from our reading, that it could be the case that Sauls does this themselves. Could this be done, through NOMIS, that Sauls owns?

Is any certification signed by an employee of Sauls or a related company?

If this is correct, how is this allowed?

Is there no third party verification?

Could the checker possibly be checking himself?

In Their Own Words

FACES researchers have discovered a very interesting document posted online that gives us a rare documented insight into how the people hired to handle blasting complaints are trained to address you. How do they really think? See their own words for yourself. As always we will post a link below to the information so you can see the facts for yourself.

The presentation is called “Education of the Public on Blasting and Addressing Complaints” by Craig A. Cole, Sauls Seismic, Inc., Virginia Regional Manager.

At no time does this presentation seem to take a claim seriously that blasting may have done damage. One could be of the opinion that they seem to already have their mind made up, it is now just in how they sell it. Who’s interest would they have in mind when they visit you? Who would be paying them?

It is interesting to note how much, in our opinion, psychological techniques are being used. They acknowledge that the homeowner isn’t “looking for a Free Ball Cap”. (We wonder if that one got a big laugh at the presentation?) They are even kind enough to acknowledge that you are not crazy. How nice of them.

They openly state their “Ultimate Goal” which is “to make the homeowner feel their concerns are met.” Interesting choice of words in our opinion.

There is also what seems to be a lot of talk about feelings and empathy in this presentation. In fact a graph notes that among “elements of trust” they claim 50% of it is empathy, while honesty only rates about 15 -20%.

What is identified as the “Important Point to Remember”??

Quote:

“You must be genuine with any expression of caring or empathy or the homeowner will know that you are fake.”

End Quote

Here is the link: http://www.vrtba.org/events/safety08/sauls_seismic.pdf

Who Knows Best??

Enabler: one that enables another to achieve an end ; especially : one who enables another to persist in self-destructive behavior (as substance abuse) by providing excuses or by making it possible to avoid the consequences of such behavior. – Merriam-Webster dictionary

On March 27, 2008 The Athens News published an article quoting W. Keith Best, assistant operations manager for Sauls Seismic, Inc. about how blasting is not a problem for residents living nearby.

At one point this articles states: “When people hear and feel the blast, they won’t actually be feeling the ground move, Best said.”

and

“What you are feeling is the air pressure hitting your house,” he said.

Our question is, If it is not the ground you feel moving but the air blast. Then why monitor the ground peak particle velocity (PPV)?

Later in this same article:

“The blasts will not cause windows to crack, ground to slip or other problems to occur, he said.”

Our question is, If the blast will not cause windows to crack. Then why monitor air pressure? If no cosmetic cracks can form, and there can be no air blast damage to glass, why have a seismograph company since they say there is no chance of damage?

Back to the article:

“Best promised, however, that the blasting work will not hurt any nearby foundations. If property owners see cracks in their foundations after the blasting work, Best said the cracks were probably there before but no one ever noticed. It’s not uncommon for property owners to see cracks after excavation work and blame nearby blasting for the problem, he maintained.”

One could almost question if this were some sort of subliminal suggestion. You see cracks that you obviously lacked the common sense to see before and now you are going to try to blame blasting for your problems. You people who don’t want blasting are probably some kind of kooks who are against progress (and a whole list of other disparaging terms they like to use when someone dares say “wait a minute here”). Obviously blasting will not hurt anything, right?

You may recall our previous article quoting an affadavit by David R. Ziegler, PE for Sauls. In other depositions he has apparently made statements that could make one question that blasting is so harmless. Depositions are typically long and dry reading, but we would like to cite a few quotes from one of Mr. Ziegler’s depositions as examples:

Quotes from  deposition:

Excerpt from page 49-50:

Ziegler: “Well, the studies find that there is potential for damage at lower levels dependent on frequency.”

Ziegler: “I believe there’s some reference to five percent.”

Questioner: “Exactly. Five percent probability of cosmetic cracking in sheet rock.”

Ziegler: “Yeah”

Excerpt from page 81-83

Ziegler: “But this had actually caused structure resonance that caused a large chifforobe to fall. A large piece of furniture, in other words. And there was some structural damage to the concrete block foundation walls.”

Questioner: “And you attributed that to?”

Ziegler: “Structural resonance.”

Questioner: So even though the peak particular velocities were within allowable limits, it was your opinion that there had been blasts within the right frequencies to create structural resonance?”

Ziegler: “That’s correct.”

Questioner: “All right. And that that structural resonance had caused –”

Ziegler: “Structural damage.”

Questioner: “What was the structural damage?”

Ziegler: “The concrete block walls.”

Questioner: “Are we talking — hollow cinder block?”

Ziegler: “And sheet rock, yes.”

Questioner: “Mortar joint cracks?”

Ziegler: “Yes.”

That doesn’t sound quite so benevolent as Mr. Best’s comments about the wonders of blasting does it? There seems to possibly be some discrepancy between when you are trying to convince a community they should not oppose blasting (and perhaps providing politicians cover to go along with it) and when you are giving a deposition. We wonder which version the people who paid for this information wanted?

Link:http://www.athensnews.com/news/local/2008/mar/27/odot-officials-say-highway-blasting-wont-hurt-home/

Debunking Misconceptions About Blasting

1. Introduction:

In many instances throughout the country companies who either are actively blasting or planning to do blasting hire firms that produce reports that are, of course, favorable to the company’s position. These reports are given to the local government and are often also cited in public hearings and on websites operated by the company that is doing the blasting. In many cases these reports are filled with technical jargon, but the statements made by representatives of the firm providing the reports (saying blasting is not a problem for those living in the surrounding community) are often very definitive. We find it odd that we can not find instances where such statements made by these firms – such as Sauls Seismic – are ever questioned. We think it is time that changed.

2. Evington, VA – Roger Reeder of Sauls Seismic

One case where a representative of Sauls Seismic has made some very definitive statements about blasting can be found in a public hearing before the Campbell County, VA Board of Supervisors on October 6, 2008. These comments were attributed to a Mr. Roger Reader of Charlotte, NC who identified himself as representing Sauls. This gentleman made some very definitive statements in the meeting, including using the word “0%” (remember that is zero) twice. In other words it can not be, because the chance is zero.

Here is a quote directly from the meeting minutes:

“The Virginia state law goes by the U. S. Bureau of Mines guidelines that were based on 50 years of scientific studies to determine the effect of vibration and overpressure on structures of all types. Vibration and overpressure levels at the Flat Creek site would be well below the U. S. Bureau of Mines curve with 0% chance of causing cosmetic damage such as hairline sheetrock cracks. At worse case, a 0.34 inch per second peak particle velocity. This vibration level also insures 0% chance damage to underground pipe lines and utilities. Climatic conditions such as wind, temperature, and humidity cause much more movement in structures than the vibration that would be produced from the Boxley Flat Creek site.”

Three points to make note of:

1) He accepts U. S. Bureau of Mines guidelines and says they were based on 50 years of scientific studies.

2) He says there is 0% chance of causing cosmetic damage such as hairline sheetrock cracks

3) He says that this vibration level also insures 0% chance damage to underground pipe lines and utilities.

Remember zero means that it can not be. None.

Our next idea was to check out Mr. Reader and his qualifications, but at first we could not locate him online. We searched using the Charlotte, NC address given at the Supervisor’s meeting and found it was registered to a Roger D. Reeder (not Reader). From there we found out that he is a Vice President of Sales at Sauls in Charlotte, we also found him listed as a health and safety contact for Sauls at the Virginia Department of Mines Minerals and Energy. From here it got even more interesting when we searched the terms Roger Reeder and safety and we found a Roger R. Reeder listed from 1990-present as Safety Supervisor at McGehee Engineering in Alabama. This page was last updated in 2001. The credentials listed sounded like they could possibly be the same person except for the middle initial. Plus, the Reeder at Sauls is listed as being in Charlotte, NC. Then we searched the terms Roger Reeder and Charlotte and found a Roger Reeder from Charlotte who is President of Praise Alive Ministries. To make matters more interesting an article found on two websites lamplighterministries.net and mihop.org carried an article about the minister Roger Reeder identified in the article as being from Charlotte who says in the article: “I’m from Alabama… I can’t help it!” Another line from that article is “that one don’t hold water”.

So, excuse us if we are a little confused about how many Roger Reeders there are in a similar line of work. It is possible all 3 are the same, or perhaps not. One thing is for certain is that he (the one who spoke in Rustburg) is a Vice President (of Sales) for Sauls. Let’s see if what he stated as certainty (0% chance) to the Campbell County Board of Supervisors is correct or if “that one don’t hold water”.

3. David R. Ziegler, PE for Sauls

In an affidavit of David R. Ziegler where he acknowledges being a PE employed by Sauls, Mr. Ziegler makes some interesting comments. On page 2 of the affidavit he states in item 6 “I can conclude that the damage associated with the broken personal property was caused by the blasting which occurred and the sheetrock defects may have been caused by the blasting which occurred near Ms. Rodgers property.”

In item 5 of the same affidavit Ziegler states again, “The items that fell from Ms. Rodgers wall, and the sheetrock defects that I observed are all items which occur as a result of blasting near a standing structure.”

Mr. Reeder stated quite authoritatively that there would be 0% chance of causing cosmetic damage such as hairline sheetrock cracks. Mr. Ziegler on the other hand says “the sheetrock defects may have been caused by the blasting which occurred near Ms. Rodgers property”. How is it that Mr. Ziegler says “sheetrock defects may have been caused” by something that Mr. Reeder says has “0% chance of causing cosmetic damage such as hairline sheetrock cracks” ???

Ziegler goes on to state in item 7, “I can affirm that the blasting was a contributing cause to the septic tank collapsing.” Aren’t septic tanks underground? How then can Mr. Reeder (from Mr. Ziegler’s company) then insure “0% chance damage to underground pipe lines and utilities“? Didn’t the Henry County PSA report we published quotes from and displayed in Campbell County relate water line problems in the Carver area to the quarry blasting? Aren’t those underground utilities? How much has Henry County spent on water lines in this area and who paid the bill?

We have a lot more documents and a lot more questions. Rather than risk overload, we will let this sink in for a few days and come back with more.

Ask yourself this; is “0%” holding water?