EUGENE, Ore. - The Eugene Water & Electric Board expects underground blasting to resume Tuesday after the utility and its contractor investigated an incident where a blast sent debris flying, damaging the siding on a nearby home.

"The blasting contractor has submitted a plan to EWEB for preventing incidents like what happened on Nov. 2 from occurring again," EWEB told residents Sunday. "The plan includes expanding the footprint of blast mats to extend 20 feet past the last loaded hole, and retraining workers to ensure they mark any drill hole anomalies with visible flags. EWEB's Safety Office has reviewed the contractor's plan and we are satisfied that these corrective actions are appropriate to prevent future incidents."

Blasting is expected to happen twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. However, blasting will not happen this Thursday on Veterans Day, a federal holiday.

"It's possible that a second blast might be rescheduled for another day during the week of Nov. 8 (to make up for the missed 11/11 blast). If a second blast is planned, we will inform neighbors in advance," according to EWEB. "As a reminder, scheduled blasts will occur between 1-1:30 p.m. The actual blast will last only a couple of seconds. Horn safety signals will sound 5 minutes and 1 minute before the blast and at the conclusion of the blast. If you are near the construction site and hear a horn signal, please be aware blasting activity will occur shortly and follow instructions of site personnel or any additional signage that may be posted."

Contractors have also paved the entrance to the site.

"The paved entrance in intended to reduce the amount of sediment leaving the site and entering the gutter. With this new erosion control measure in place, excavation will continue," EWEB told residents. "Please be prepared for a resumption of dump truck traffic."

EWEB is building water storage tanks on the site between 40th and 43rd in south Eugene, south of where Patterson Street ends. The utility purchased the land in the 1950s as the future site of water storage facilities.

"This project, when complete, will result in two new seismically resilient 7.5 million gallon water storage tanks that will provide clean drinking water for all of Eugene," Joe Harwood with EWEB said. "When the tanks are operational at the end of 2023, we will be able to take our 80+ year old College Hill reservoir out of service."