‘They don’t realize how it’s affecting the area’: Ballistics testing near Juniper Canyon rocking nearby homes

PRINEVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ)- Residents in the area of Crook County's Juniper Canyon have been dealing with the sounds and impacts of loud, nerve-shattering explosions for months. They claim they're powerful enough to shake homes.

It turns out the reason behind it isn't as common as was first thought, and could surprise many.

"It's been happening for over a month, off and on. And we've contacted the police and the county and in the beginning, they thought it was from rock quarries." Ron Chapman, who lives nearby, said Friday.

The Crook County Sheriff's Office issued a news release July 24th, saying the explosions were from a Deschutes County rock quarry for road-building projects. Now, they're telling locals it turns out to be ballistics testing.

Chapman said he was told by the county that explosives are going off near Millican, sending shock waves 20 miles up the canyon.

"Well, we're hoping that they stop, because they don't realize how it's affecting the area. So that's a problem," Chapman said.

"The big concern is that there might be property damage. And also, we're on wells out here. The wells could collapse. We have shale rock out here, so it's it's pretty fragile." Chapman added.

A resident emailed the Oregon Department of Geology and Minerals, or DOGAMI, asking about the explosions, and said they confirmed they were coming from a company called Oregon Ballistics Laboratories, based in Salem.

The company told NewsChannel 21 they've been testing in the area for 10 years.

The company does ballistics testing for dozens of companies and government agencies. The New York Police Department, various U.S. government branches, and foreign countries all use the company as well.

Tom Ohnstad, the owner of OBL, says this round of testing is at a higher frequency than normal, which apparently is causing residents to hear and feel the booms.

He said area residents can expect the current ballistics testing to end in two weeks, on August 18th. But since it's for a government contract, Ohnstad said he could not talk about specifics.

As for Chapman, he thinks there are better, less populated areas to do the testing.

"I just don't know why they can't go out to the desert," he said. "There's no one out in the desert."