MANKATO – It's been a strange and scary few months for folks living near the Jefferson Quarry, a limestone and sand mining operation alongside the Minnesota River.
It started in April with an earsplitting explosion that shook dozens of homes. That was followed seconds later by what the company argued was the first earthquake in Mankato's history, a massive tremor that originated near the quarry site.
Finally, last week, another quarry blast sent a barrage of rocks screaming through the Germania Park neighborhood on a quiet summer morning. Chunks of limestone bigger than bowling balls ripped limbs from trees and punched a hole in the wall of a house hundreds of feet from the explosion site.
Within hours, the city — for the second time — suspended the blasting permit of the quarry owner, Jordan Sands, while it investigates what happened. Meanwhile, neighborhood residents — many of whom have lived next to the quarry for years — are growing uneasy and wondering what's next.
"I'm nervous," said David Kreiselmeier, whose home was pierced by a rock that left a large, jagged hole just below his children's bedroom window and next to their bikes. "Who's to know whether you'll come walking out the door one day and get blasted, or have a rock come through the window?"
An official of Jordan Sands said Monday that the company, whose primary produce is so-called frac sand for use in oil and gas extraction, is concerned about last week's incident and that it is determined to find out what went wrong.
"I think we'd all like to get to the bottom of what transpired," Scott Sustacek, the company's chief executive officer, said. "Safety has always been our top priority. We're conducting our own investigation and cooperating with the city's investigation of this incident.
"Last week was not a great week for us."