| 12/22/2004 |
| School site seen prone to earthquakes |
| By JOSH MROZINSKI , Middletown Press Staff |
EAST HADDAM --The proposed fourth through eighth grade school would be built in an area that continues to be prone to earthquakes, according to a geologist from Wesleyan University who lives in Haddam.
Jella Zeilinga de Boer presented to the Board of Selectmen last week his findings of a study he worked on from 1985 to 1995.
Equipment was dropped into three holes to measure the earth’s movement for the study. Zeilinga de Boer said the cracks that developed and the elliptical shape of the deepest one, about a half-mile from the school site at 4,500 feet, are caused by significant forces in the crust. "We know that (the area) is one of the most seismological areas of New England," said Zeilinga de Boer. "The problem is simply that my understanding is that architects (are) completely unaware it is a seismological area so they should incorporate into their plans a way to deal with earthquakes." At the shallow level, he said, there are geological forces happening that are a result of ice moving 20,000 years ago from the north/northwest to south/southwest. He said these forces have caused walls to crack with a bang sound when they are being quarried. "When these bangs occur they were similar to the noises we hear in the Moodus area," said Zeilinga de Boer. First Selectman Brad Parker said he asked the state for its opinion on the area’s history of earthquakes after a couple of residents expressed concern there may be a fault line. "It doesn’t seem to be an issue," Parker said. Nancy W. McHone, staff geologist at the Connecticut Geological and Natural Survey, responded in a mid-November letter that none of the small earthquakes experienced several times a year are connected to a fault line. She also wrote that earthquakes in the state have caused little damage, except for knocking down a few "loosely-cemented stone walls and/or chimneys in colonial times." Parker said the architect will be made aware of the professor’s findings. Selectman Peter Govert said he thought it would be good for the two geologists to speak with each other. The selectmen, he said, are reviewing the material. "We feel like we are doing our due diligence," Govert said. The state building code requires buildings are designed to cope with seismic activity, said Dave King, vice president of Kaestle Boos Associates Inc., in New Britain. His architectural firm has designed the school. For example, he said masonry walls are reinforced with wires that go into bed joints or with vertical rods. To contact Josh Mrozinski, call (860) 347-3331, ext. 222 or email jmrozinski@middletownpress.com.
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