Blasting oversight fails despite Black Hills support

PIERRE – It had been thought that at least one of the bills attempting to regulate mining operations in the Black Hills would have survived having passed out of committee earlier in the legislative session, but House Bill (HB) 1287 failed in the South Dakota House of Representatives. “HB 1287 would have provided better regulation for large-scale mining of limestone, lithium, sand, gravel, and a few other materials that use blasting,” said Black Hills Clean Water Alliance (BHCWA) in a press release.

The bill came before the House of Representatives earlier this week. District 35 Rep. Tina Mulally was one of four legislators who were excused. House members across the Black Hills who voted in favor of better regulation of blasting operations were:

District 29 Rep. Terri Jorgenson (R) and Rep. Kathy Rice (R), District 30 Rep. Trish Ladner (R) and Rep. Tim Goodwin (R), District 31 Rep. Scott Odenbach (R) and Rep. Mary Fitzgerald (R), District 32 Rep. Nicole Uhre-Balk (D), District 33 Rep. Curt Massie (R) and Rep. Phil Jensen (R), District 34 Rep. Heather Baxter(R), and District 35 Rep. Tony Randolph (R). The two who voted against the bill were District 34 Rep. Mike Derby (R) and Rep. Steve Duffy from District 32 (R). “All other House members from the Black Hills understood the importance of this bill and voted for it,” said BHCWA.

Representative Jorgenson, the bill’s prime sponsor, said passing this bill will close a “dangerous” loophole. “Currently, blasting with high-grade explosives to mine limestone is considered the same as scooping loose sand,” said Jorgenson. She explained that the bill would move certain mining operations from the simpler licensing system to more stringent oversight under Codified Law Chapter 45-6b, which would require an operator get a full reclamation bond and hold them accountable for impacts. “Blasting introduces far greater risks, vibrations, cumulative structure damage, and threats to groundwater, than mechanical extraction alone.” She said because limestone mining uses the same explosives as mining for gold and silver, it should also be rigorously regulated.

She referred legislators to decades of research from the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) which established standards for blasting safety and vibration limits, and how unique geologic structures react to explosives. In the Black Hills region of South Dakota and Wyoming, the landscape and groundwater systems are strongly shaped by karst geology, where layers of easily dissolved rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum form a surrounding belt around a central granite core. “The USBM research found that cumulative blasting causes issues even if it falls under the legal threshold and that is especially true in karst limestone areas,” said Jorgenson.

Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) found that blasting in karst can rupture natural conduits, allowing contaminants to travel rapidly through the aquifer. United States Geological Survey reports have described the karst features in the Black Hills as a massive plumbing system for the region’s water.

District 22 Rep. Kevin Van Diepen (R) and District 16 Rep. John Shubeck (R) said they don’t have problems like this in their districts, that this is a Meade County problem, and has everything to do with local zoning.

Rep. Kadyn Wittman (D) from District 15 said that she had intended to vote no on the bill but after hearing proponents and doing some of her own research she changed her mind. “I would respectfully push back from my colleagues that suggest that this is a West River issue, or that we are creating a statewide solution for something specific to one community. Aggregate and limestone operations that use blasting exist across the entirety of our state, including in East River and it’s not regional. This specific bill is about how we regulate a very specific activity where it occurs. This bill is not about zoning. It does not tell counties what they must allow.” She argued that counties would retain their authority regarding land use compatibility and zoning. “Nothing in this bill changes that. What zoning does not do,” she emphasized,” is regulate blasting standards. Explosives are already regulated at the state level because we know that their impacts do not stop at county lines. Blasting is not a minimal activity. It increases impact and risk, and when activity scales up, I believe it is reasonable of this body that the level of oversight scales with it. This bill does not ban blasting. It does not shut down production. It simply applies more robust permitting frameworks that we already have in statute when explosives are used.”

District 31 Rep. Mary Fitzgerald (R) said she wasn’t going to say anything but felt compelled when the city of Black Hawk was mentioned. It was discovered that the Hideaway Hills subdivision had been built atop an abandoned mine when a sinkhole opened and collapsed a portion of the neighborhood in 2020. She said it was her son who initiated action representing residents of Hideaway Hills. “Those houses were built over caverns where they had mined gypsum and so far no one has taken responsibility for the sale of those houses and for allowing those houses to be built there. So when we sit here and say there’s enough regulations to protect people, they’re bonded don’t worry about it, this is a one county problem. Go talk to the people at Black Hawk, South Dakota, who live in Hideaway Hills. And if you could ask them today if they would vote to have zoning regulations, they would say one hundred percent this bill needs to be passed. I support it. It’s time that we look aft the people of South Dakota and help those people that have been taken advantage of.”

SB 188 would improve public notification of large mining operations. The bill required three notices over 180 days. HB 1273 was a broad attempt to overhaul the state’s mining laws. Both bills were deferred to the 41st day. This is a procedural move that prevents the bill from being revived which could happen if it was simply tabled. The session only lasts 40 days. By moving the legislation to after the last day of session, scheduling the bill to be heard on a non-existent day, essentially kills the bill.

(Contact Marnie Cook at cookm8715@gmail.com)

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