Quarry blast showers suburban Halifax apartment building with rocks

HALIFAX — Blasting at a Halifax-area quarry is on hold while labour officials investigate a mishap that showered a nearby apartment building with rocks. 

No injuries were reported Monday afternoon but the apartment building — which is across a major highway from the quarry — was damaged, a spokeswoman for the provincial Labour Department said Friday.

Photos in local media showed a broken window and at least one hole in the roof of the building, located in the Clayton Park neighbourhood.

“It is too early in the investigation to know the full extent of the property damage,” said spokeswoman Lisa Jarrett.

She said her department has issued a stop-work order as occupational health and safety officers investigate what she called a “blasting incident.”

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She could not say how much rock hit the apartment building.

“We have collected the rock as part of the investigation and unfortunately cannot comment on it at this time,” she said in an email.

Scott Stevens, president of the quarry’s owner, Gateway Materials Ltd., said the company is conducting an internal investigation along with blasting contractor Dyno Nobel.

“We are co-operating with the Department of Labour and Advanced Education as they conduct their investigation,” he said.

“A stop-work order has been issued by the department and we are complying with those orders.”

The Canadian Press

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