‘It’s criminal, and no one’s answering’

An insurance adjuster for the contractor involved in the May 6 blast that sent rocks flying into Lobird Park mobile homes is in Whitehorse today to look at the damage.

An insurance adjuster for the contractor involved in the May 6 blast that sent rocks flying into Lobird Park mobile homes is in Whitehorse today to look at the damage.

Scott Parker, a blasting consultant with ExRT Ltd. in Vancouver, told about 40 residents of the area Thursday night any damage to their homes will be dealt with through insurance.

As the contractor, Sidhu Trucking Ltd. is responsible for any damage to homes, residents were told.

If there’s a problem reaching Sidhu or the company’s insurance agent, Jeff Boehmer, the Hamilton Boulevard extension program manager, said residents could call him, as they can over any other problems with the blasting.

“We just want our homes intact,” said one resident after many complained about damage to their trailers caused by blasting done prior to May 6.

“I have floor boards that have moved,” said one resident, as others reported their trailers shifting and other structural problems to their homes from other blasts.

“It’s from the God damn blasting!”

Parker and government officials spent much of the approximately two-hour meeting listening to angry home-owners question what happened during the blasting to send large rocks through a number of roofs and wonder how it would be fixed.

“From this point on, safety is our first concern,” Parker said as he and Boehmer vowed there would be blasting mats, sand and smaller blasts used when the work resumes.

On May 6, he said, it was one malfunctioning hole which appears to have been under-loaded that caused rocks to soar into the neighbourhood.

The blaster whose work threw the rock had 20 years’ experience and for those 20 years there had been no problems, Parker stressed.

The area is being blasted to make way for the extension of Hamilton Boulevard, which will eventually reach Robert Service Way. The work has been suspended for now, but after a new detailed blasting plan is submitted and approved, the blasting will continue, residents were told.

“You will be notified,” Parker said, pointing to meetings, door-to-door flyers and the like to be held before blasting resumes.

Residents called for notices of blasting times as well, and while officials said they would post estimates on when it would happen once it resumes, Parker noted they couldn’t give an exact time.

Plans might be for the blast to occur at 4:15 p.m., for example, but the detonation can’t occur until safety has been ensured, which means it could go off sometime between then and 5 p.m.

He agreed though a notice could be posted at the trailer park’s mailboxes on blasting day, stating approximately when the work will happen: between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., for example.

With an idea when the blasting would happen, property owners can opt to be away from the area at that time, it was noted.

A pamphlet will also be distributed to homes in the area with contact numbers for when there are problems from the blasting after many complained of being redirected to different agencies both on May 6 and when there were issues prior to that.

“It’s criminal, and no one’s answering,” said one man.

“Nobody gives a s---,” said a resident who left the meeting abruptly.

Several trailer owners spoke of calling 911, only to be redirected to the city and then to the Yukon government, which both have offices closed in the evening.

Police didn’t respond because it didn’t fall under the Criminal Code.

Boehmer said he has given RCMP his number in case there were problems and calls could be directed his way.

Last night, he again posted his number and gave it and his e-mail address out for residents.

The riding’s MLA, Arthur Mitchell, suggested that after offices close for the end of the day, residents could call 911, but rather than asking for the RCMP, report the accident and request the first department attend because it doesn’t require it be related to the Criminal Code.

As well, he also told his constituents they can call him in the evening and he’ll find someone to respond.

The May 6 blast has prompted the Yukon Worker’s Compensation Health and Safety Board (WCB) to begin looking at whether it can be added to the list of contacts for 911, Kurt Dieckmann, director of Occupational Health and Safety, told the residents.

“That is a follow-up,” he said.

As the board looks into that, the investigation into what exactly happened on May 6 continues.

In the end, Dieckmann said the investigation will determine who was responsible, and “appropriate action” will be taken.

That won’t happen in the next two or three weeks, but rather more likely over a two- or three-month period as officials look through all evidence.

Along with the contractor doing the work and the government heading the extension, residents also doled out their anger over the blast and resulting damage to the WCB.

Throughout the meeting, questions over why safety inspectors weren’t around and reports of blasting workers not being identifiable by the proper safety equipment and equipment drivers behaving as “renegade cowboys” by doing doughnuts in the machines continued to arise.

While Dieckmann acknowledged safety inspectors had missed the lack of signs when they came to the site, he also reported blast mats were in place and other precautions were taken when inspectors were on-site.

But he noted, those at work sites in the territory act differently when an inspector is on the scene.

It would be similar to an RCMP officer pulling over a vehicle early one evening and finding nothing wrong, permitting the driver to head home. Is it the cop’s fault, Dieckmann asked, if later that night the driver drinks alcohol, then drives?

“We can’t be there all the time,” he said.

With only three safety inspectors in a territory of 2,000 worksites, it’s impossible to be at every blast, he argued.

With no calls prior to the May 6 blast, about the horseplay, residents said they saw, Dieckmann didn’t know it was an issue and therefore couldn’t investigate.

That again came back to the problem many residents had in trying to figure out who they should call when issues around blasting come up.

“Quite frankly, we will investigate beyond this incident,” he said after hearing about the other issues. “A workplace is a professional place.”

Trailer owners weren’t so quick to put their trust back into officials like Dieckmann, though.

“Our problem is we trusted you,” Russ Carpenter said, adding that May 6 changed everything.

“Trust is a little low right now,” he said.

The statement came after Boehmer also noted the relationship has changed between the government and contractor as well.

The Carpenters had a 25-lb. rock from the blast shoot through their roof, breaking their computer chair in half, when they were watching TV.

With perhaps the best-known trailer in Whitehorse these days and the blasting planned to continue, Carpenter questioned what that will do to property values.

“It should not have happened,” Dieckmann acknowledged, as did other officials there throughout the meeting.

Before any blasting occurs again, officials will work as a team, making sure all requirements are met and that the blasting plan is detailed and safe and that area residents are informed, home owners were told again and again last night.

Community Services Minister Glenn Hart sat through most of the meeting as residents criticized his department’s work on the project.

After the session, he told reporters his department may have to work on co-ordinating the insurance settlements between Sidhu and residents after many suggested putting one person on the job to deal with all the claims that will be coming from Lobird.

Department officials, he said, are doing a good job of responding to a situation that shouldn’t have happened and won’t recur.

The meeting provided both a good opportunity for residents to vent their frustrations and to bring forward ideas on how to fix it, he added.