“We look at the roads, the bridges, the infrastructure, the neighborhoods, the cities, the skyscrapers, none of those things could be built without the aggregate materials that explosives truly make possible.”
Clark Mica, President of the Institute of Makers of Explosives highlights the critical role that commercial explosives play in building the Florida and U.S. economies before a June 25, 2024 meeting of The Economic Club of Florida.
“There are a couple things you need to have in a modern society, or successful society, and that’s energy, water, and food,” Mr. Mica told the Club. All of those things require explosives to produce, what he refers to as “the ultimate power tool.”
The Institute of Makers of Explosives was begun in 1913 as an organization to provide safety instruction and guidelines. It’s been so successful in its mission that OSHA told the group it does not need to form a safety and health alliance with the government organization. To handle or possess explosives, a person has to pass an ATF background check and be thoroughly trained. Three universities in the country now offer degrees in mining or explosives.
“If you think about the millions of tons of explosives that are consumed each year, rarely do you hear about anything in the news,” he said.
The group includes manufacturers, distributors, and users of commercial explosives. The group does not deal with defense or fireworks.
Mr. Mica said that there is only one dynamite factory in the United States and no TNT plant. What is needed is imported, and that could be a national security issue. Most of the commercial explosives used today are made from ammonium nitrate emulsions.
The group just completed the first ever economic impact study of the commercial explosives industry in the United States and Florida.
Across the country the industry provides:
The economic impact of the industry is large.
Commercial explosives make other industries possible, including industries that will be very important in the future.
“We talk about all the new technology, the green economy. We don’t care if it’s fossil fuels or green, you need us for everything,” he said. “If you want to make lithium batteries for electric cars, you’ve got to mine the lithium, and you have to use explosives to do that. You want to build windmills, you use explosives, and not only to get the material out, but to build the windmill. You have to use it to prepare the site because those things go down twenty, thirty, forty, even fifty feet to build the foundations.”
The largest users of explosives are the oil and gas industry and the mining and quarry industry. There explosives provide:
In Florida, the economic impact of commercial explosives is also huge.
Explosives have played a critical role in building Florida’s infrastructure, from roads and bridges to subdivisions and skyscrapers. There are 432-people working directly in the industry here, and those jobs create many more. For instance, explosives are used widely in the space industry at Cape Canaveral. Shaped charges are what separate the stages of NASA’s rockets. Limestone aggregate used in construction is blasted from the ground in South Florida. Explosives bring down old buildings and help mine the products for new ones.
“All of these things are critical to our modern way of life,” Mica concluded.
(You can also view the entire Club meeting on YouTube.)
The Economic Club of Florida podcast, provides an extended platform for discussion to educate, engage, and empower citizens on important economic, political, and social issues. Based in Tallahassee, Florida, the Club has featured distinguished speakers on engaging topics of national importance since 1977. To learn more, including how to become a member, visit www.Economic-Club.com or call 850-224-0711 or email [email protected].
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