Builders mix it up with safety officials over seismic code
Posted on Friday, January 4, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/212655/
Disaster officials were pitted against economic developers Thursday as a legislative committee debated the building code for earthquake zones.
“The threat of an earthquake in the New Madrid area is great,” Arkansas State Police Lt. Lindsey Williams told lawmakers. “We should do everything we can to prepare for that.”
Dave Maxwell, director of the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, and representatives of firefighter groups told the Administrative Rules and Regulations Committee that they support the code.
But Kay Brockwell, economic development director for Marion, responded that she didn’t know much about the code until Sen. Steve Bryles, D-Blytheville, told her about his concerns. She said even a 1 percent building cost increase to guard against earthquakes could mean a potential industry would locate elsewhere.
“In east Arkansas we already have several strikes against us,” Brockwell said. “If you increase the cost of construction, we might as well close up shop and go home.”
Later, in an interview, she said, “Well I don’t know if it’s that bad, but it’s certainly bad.”
She said no businesses have cited to her the building code as a problem related to locating in Crittenden County.
More study is needed, Brockwell said.
But Williams told the committee that the state police agency has spent numerous hours on the issue and noted that engineers, geologists and seismologists say the building code is necessary.
The committee, however, agreed with Brockwell and Bryles, voting to refer it to the Agriculture and Economic Development Committee for discussion about the evidence regarding the need for the building code. The issue will then return to the Administrative Rules and Regulations Committee.
The code is part of the 2006 International Fire, Building and Residential Code, which state police want to adopt. The state fire marshal office is part of the state police.
But Williams said in an interview after the meeting that the international code pertaining to earthquakes has been in the state building code since 2000 and was largely unchanged in the 2006 international code.
“We would have to reduce the requirements in our code now to lessen the cost of construction,” Williams said. “We would have to take a step backward.”
Bryles said the earthquake building code hasn’t “really hit home yet” and a lot of people don’t know about it.
“We don’t want to do anything haphazard,” Bryles said. “But you get diverse opinions. We need to at least go back and revisit the issue.”
Haydar Al-Shukri, professor of engineering at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, said economic developers shouldn’t see the code as an increased cost but rather as an investment in protecting their businesses against earthquakes.
Brockwell disagreed.
“You are looking at the possibility of earthquake damage of buildings but the near certainty of people never having decent jobs if we don’t get economic development in eastern Arkansas,” she said.
She said Memphis, which is also in the New Madrid fault zone, has approved an exemption for industrial buildings and only calls for the stricter earthquake protection standard for buildings such as hospitals and schools.
During the meeting, Fred Whistle of Springdale, an engineering consultant for economic developers in eastern Arkansas, said the threat of earthquakes to human life is overblown.
He said that since the 1812 New Madrid earthquake in northeastern Arkansas, more people have died from AIDS and heart attacks than from earthquakes.
Sen. Kim Hendren, R-Gravette, questioned whether the building code called for strict earthquake rules to enrich engineers.
But Rep. John Paul Wells, D-Paris, said anything to help emergency personnel would be worthwhile.
Williams said delays in adopting the latest international code could lead to higher insurance premiums. He said the earthquake code affects new construction but don’t affect residential construction.
Gov. Mike Beebe wants to study the issue further before stating a position, said spokesman Matt DeCample.