By Patrick Tepoorten

There was a surprising revelation at Monday night's Harris city council meeting. LNE Blasting, a long-time Harris business, had been shut down last Thursday by the Chisago County Sheriff's Office for environmental reasons.

According to Sheriff Todd Rivard, the primary cause for the drastic action was the amount of silica sand and particles from plastic beads that were being deposited in the air by the business. Silica sand and the petroleum based beads are both products used in sand and bead blasting.

Rivard realized the extent of the problem when he parked his car for a few hours next door at a county building. "When I got back, there was sand all over it," he said on Tuesday, and as a result asked deputy Karl Schreck to research state requirements for the dispersion of the sand, as well as the beads.

Schreck discovered state rules pertaining to the dispersion of silica, which is a small sharp particle that over time can damage the lungs and cause a condition called silicosis. "Basically, you're not allowed to allow particulate matter to go on to someone else's property," he said. Two properties, the Sheriff's district office, and the Harris Fire Hall, were affected by the silica and bead residue.

Although the business was shut down last Thursday, Schreck left a list of compliance measures that, adopted, would insure LNE could stay in business. It included the erection of a poly-tent to enclose sand-blasting that has, until now, been done outside; the construction of a storage box for silica sand to keep it from blowing around, the inclusion of a filtration system on the building's exhaust system to keep bead particles from entering the atmosphere, and the creation of a conditional use permit by the city.

As of Monday, the business has been approved to re-open but on a limited basis. According to Rivard, owners Curt and Amy Peltier had begun making the necessary improvements, including the addition of a filtration system. LNE is allowed to resume sandblasting, but only inside the structure.

According to Schreck, business will not be allowed to continue in full until the concerns are addressed.

That is of small consolation to part-owner Amy Peltier, who noted that LNE received no warning before it was "red tagged" last week. "Nothing justifies this in my eyes," she said. "The business has been there for years. We've owned it for less than a year but the previous owner never had any problems."

She also stated that when she and her husband purchased the building, their legal counsel looked into potential issues and the business received the approval of the city to conduct business.

For the city's part, Mayor Rick Smisson indicated that business owners, the Sheriff, and city officials would meet Tuesday evening in an attempt to work out the compliance issues in a way that is agreeable to all. As of presstime, that meeting had not yet occurred, but Smisson stated, "the city is working to get LNE back open again."

One of the city's concerns is that, in meeting compliance, LNE does not find itself in violation of city ordinances for structures, etc. "We need to make sure when they implement changes it doesn't cause problems down the road," said Smisson.

Amy Peltier said, in the meantime, the company is doing everything it can to be in compliance with what the sheriff's office has dictated.