It's Always a Blast When Terry's Around

The shale surface mine owned by T.L. Long Excavation, Inc., of rural Martinsburg, got a little deeper on Monday.

A section of the two-acre shale field on Agway Road, Martinsburg, was wired for a blast to break up rock for shale by Wampum Hardware of New Galilee.

Jerry Brumbaugh, manager for Wampum Hardware, explained that the explosives are buried in the ground in a grid pattern and that from detonation to the last blast takes less than two seconds.

The crew, from Wampum's Stoystown location, worked to dig the holes and set the explosives to one detonating line that went off in an S shape.

Ter...