700 Sticks Of Dynamite Belonging To Madison Company Destroyed At Stony Creek Quarry

During a routine inspection of a secure explosives storage facility at the Monday, officials from Madison-based J & J Blasting Corp. and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found 430 pounds of dynamite that had to be destroyed. Branford Assistant Fire Chief/Fire Marshal Shaun Heffernan said Branford officials responded to the scene along with the bomb squad of the Connecticut State Police Emergency Services Unit to address the issue.

Heffernan reported about 700 sticks of three-year-old dynamite, belonging to J & J Blasting Corp. were destroyed.

Jerry Cox, one of the owners of J & J Blasting Corp., which has its administrative offices on Duck Hole Road in Madison, said that the company has a certified explosives storage facility in the Stony Creek Quarry.  “We don’t really like to publicize that for obvious reasons,” he said.

Explosives nearing expiration date, decision made to destroy them

Cox said the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) does routine, scheduled inspections of such facilities and that on such an inspection Monday the ATF found explosives that were nearing the point where they might become unstable. “The ATF felt that they were getting to the point where they should be destroyed and not used.”

Branford Assistant Fire Chief/Fire Marshal Heffernan told Patch that the explosives had crystallized and were unstable. Cox said he did not agree with that characterization.

“If they were unstable, we would not have been able to move them,” he said. “As it was, we were able to move them to an area where they were destroyed safely ... .”

Company coordinates with ATF to notify local and state officials

“There was a particular product that we had stored properly and safely, and the ATF found one item that they felt was getting to the point where it should be destroyed and not used. We use explosives all over the state of Connecticut on permitted jobs, so we coordinate all of this with the ATF. We notified the Branford Fire Marshal and the Connecticut State Fire Marshal ... .”

Cox said the state police, “who are well trained to do,” the destruction of the explosives, and were “happy to come down and do that ... .”

“We found a spot in the quarry safely away from everything. They did it, they actually managed and coordinated it ... . We were there. ... ,” he said.

"The prudent thing to do"

 Cox reiterated that the explosives, while nearing the date where they might become unstable, were not unstable at the time they were destroyed. “No, they were not unstable. If they are unstable, they can’t be handled and can’t be moved."

"But, again, the ATF felt that sometime in the future they could become unstable, they felt the prudent thing was to not wait for that day to come. They said they looked like they might last another month to six months … the state police felt they were safe enough to move. ATF felt they prudent thing to do was to not wait.”

J & J Blasting Corp. leases four magazines, boxes that are designed to securely store explosives, from Branford at the Quarry. The incident could not have been foreseen, stated Heffernan, adding that the blasting company has not been found in fault or liable for anything.

Location in Madison is office/administrative only

No one was injured during the destruction of the dynamite, Heffernan said.

Does J & J Blasting keep dynamite at its Duck Hole Road location?

“No, no, no, no,” Cox said. “We have an office line here.” He added the company does administrative and office work at its Madison location on Duck Hole Road.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 10:44 a.m. Tuesday, March 20, 2012, to include information from company owner Jerry Cox. It was also changed at 12:39 p.m. to update information about how the materials were destroyed.