A Langdale resident has expressed concern over the RCMP's handling of a controlled detonation of old blasting caps on Jan. 19 in the field beside Langdale Elementary School.
Resident Dale Peterson contacted Coast Reporter saying he was upset that Sunshine Coast RCMP did not give proper notification to nearby residents of what was going on prior to the Tuesday evening detonation.
"None of us were notified, and no one had any idea what was going on," said Peterson. "There was no caution tape put up and there was nothing preventing anyone from walking onto the field. All we heard were these two big blasts and everyone came out into the street to see what was going on. Calls to 9-1-1 didn't help as no one could provide us with information. People were confused and very upset."
Local RCMP, along with members of the explosives disposal unit from Vancouver, attended a Langdale residence during the day on Jan. 19 when a member of the public brought to their attention several blasting caps that were approximately 50 years old and, according to RCMP, potentially volatile.
The explosives unit determined that the blasting caps needed to be disposed of as soon as possible and chose the school field for the disposal.
"Ideally we would have taken the blasting caps out in the middle of nowhere to detonate, but that was not an option available to us due to the sensitivity of the material," said Howard. "The closest and safest place was the school field. The ground there is fragment-free earth and was an area where we could control the entry and exit points. We had the exit and entry points of the school covered and safety was our main concern."
Howard said it is in his experience that a wide-sweeping notification of neighbours could have brought out on-lookers to the scene, which would have been an added risk to public safety.
"I recognize the concern of this resident, but we didn't want a bunch of spectators around as we would have had an issue with controlling that," said Howard. "We weigh public safety over public interest and public safety is going to win every time. If people are not around, then there is no risk to public safety. The explosives unit was called in. They are the experts and they determined that this was our most safe and secure option to dispose of this material."
