Here is some Lastic Canyon news with a little overview of what has happened within the last
couple weeks.
At long last on Monday, February 15, the containers were finally released from customs in Miragoane. They had the containers free and clear, but not the detonators. They were still held up in customs, because some official seen the word "explosive" on the manifest and put the brakes on. Supposedly only a few high officials in the police department can approve shipments of explosives, and he was hard to find! Having faith that they would finally get the detonators and the window before rainy season was long enough to do significant work, GNIF began to contact our volunteers for availability. Amazingly the skilled volunteers that we needed were ready to go! Six volunteers: Bruce Schartner – Enderby, BC – as excavator operator with mountain / rock experience, Mike Schartner – Fort Vermillion, AB – as drill operator, Dan Klassen – Swanson, SK – as driller’s helper, Larry Schartner – Fort Vermillion, AB – and Darrell Schartner – Hesson, OT – as welders, and Virgil Unruh – Linden, AB – as interpreter. They all arrived at the La Ramona airport in the DR on Monday afternoon, Feb 22. While the crew was in the DR, they heard from the Senator that the detonators were ready to pick up, so Travis Toews, a CSI boy, went over to pick them up. He
expected a “small payment” would be required, but just as they were getting to that point, another tremor hit. Everybody scrambled for the door, and the fellow helping Travis hollered over his shoulder to get those things and get out. Travis took him at his word, and they had the detonators that evening!
Now for more recent news about the Lastic Canyon Project. Kevin has been quite busy with fuel and supply runs. The drill continued to give some fits, and had a few hydraulic hose problems, but they had the drilling done for the first blast Friday night. Saturday morning while the welders and equipment guys finished the first phase of the penstock, the rest of the crew mixed anfo and loaded the holes. A few helpers from CDR were there, and together we loaded 47 holes with about 1 ton of anfo.
As they were preparing for the first blast, the Casec (sheriff) was advising people to get away through a megaphone. Loren gave a short orientation on how to guard the area, and six teams of two (one white to run the radios, and one black to speak to any passer bys that were found) headed out to their designated vantage points. All together, they could see all of the neighboring hillsides and trails that pass through the area. I don’t know what the people were told exactly, but they have never seen the canyon so deserted! None of the guards saw even one animal or person, and normally there would have been many.
After Loren made one more check and sounded warning blasts on his horn, he lit off the first blast at 3:32 PM! It was picture perfect, with the whole section doing a little heave and settling down the slope with a minimum of noise and no flying rock! Cheers sounded as they saw the first big step of work completed!
Once Loren sounded the all clear, everybody converged on the blast site. The locals ran faster than they did, and did they ever holler and scream! They were totally amazed at what had happened. There wasn't any trouble keeping people away from the first blast, but will have no problem at all in the future.
Yesterday, the 1st, was spent doing some repairs on the drill while the excavator operator dug out the rubble from the blast. The entire 1st section of the bench is now to grade and looking good. The excavator operator also was sent to dig off what they thought was a foot or so of overburden on the back end of the site. This area was expected to be the biggest blast area, with an estimated 50’ cut required. To everyones surprise, he kept on digging into what was thought was solid rock, and has now excavated from 12’ to about 15’. This has caused a review of plans, and they are trying to figure out if they can run the penstock higher up the cliff than was previously planned. If this works, they will likely only have to do some spot blasting of a few knobs, and to deepen a sump area. This is still a decision in progress, but it seems likely they will be ready to begin extending the penstock yet this week.
The weather has been holding steady at the job site, although clouds are building on the mountain tops most afternoons, and first indication that rainy season is just around the corner. So far it has not rained on site, although it has been raining in PAP and to the west. If the weather holds, they should be able to complete the goal of finishing the blasting and penstock this season.
Good News International Foundation
Associate Writer - Daniel Jantz
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