Hoping to avoid a thick mushroom-shaped plume of dust and particulate matter over Provo, the Utah Air Quality Board on Wednesday denied BYU's request for implosion of two seven-level dorm buildings over Christmas break.

Instead the demolition could kick up dust for six to eight weeks during this month and January and cause a disturbance to DT residents.

"We're concerned about the students," said Ole Smith, administrative vice president of physical facilities. Smith said a university has very few windows of opportunities for such demolition and winter break provided the perfect timing.

The buildings, V and W towers, void of students this semester, will be razed in preparation for apartment-style housing. The question, until Wednesday, was how.

Before the board's denial, Brigham Young University's best plan was to demolish the two Deseret Towers dorms on Dec. 20 with explosives -- a 20-minute job. The alternative is a large wrecking ball, crushing concrete and masonry for weeks.

Either method would produce pollution. Add that to the winter inversion and the demolition could be detrimental to air quality levels, already in the yellow for Utah County on Wednesday. The decision comes just days after a BYU study appearing in Circulation, a journal of the American Heart Association, with evidence that the risk of heart attacks rises during a one- to two-day rise in air pollution.

Even so, BYU administrators preferred the former choice, noting the increased risk to students living near an eight-week mechanical demolition and the potential for rubble romping. More than 1,300 freshman live in the five other towers, just feet away from the proposed demolition.

Demolitions using explosives require significant approval from the Air Quality Board, who's main concern is demolition-caused pollution.

Seeking an exception to the rule, BYU requested a variance from dust regulations for Dec. 20, the planned date of implosion. At Wednesday's meeting, board members expressed concern for BYU's lack of research into the air quality effects, and denied the request unanimously.

"You say this 'probably emits less dust' but there is no study here proving this," said John Veranth, Air Quality Board chairman.

Acknowledging that dust is a result of any demolition, board members preferred the longer method of mechanical destruction because the pollution is stretched over a longer period of time.

Board members mentioned the use of water to decrease dust during demolition, but Edwin Jackson, from BYU's risk management and safety department, felt a few hoses would be bootless in the overall scheme.

"I'm dubious that water on a large cement block is going to change much when a wrecking ball smashes into it," he said.

Jackson used physics to argue why more dust would be created with a mechanical destruction versus a short explosion.

"It's a physical law," he said. "The more energy you put into the system, the more you get out."

After an explosion, Veranth stated, the dust shroud is intense, thick, and with winter inversion, could remain in the valley for weeks. Jackson said local residents couldn't keep doors or windows open for eight weeks.

On Nov. 20, Craig Barrus, from BYU's Physical Facilities, submitted the variance request, a little over two weeks before Wednesday's meeting.

The Air Quality Board requires such requests 30 days prior to the next board meeting. Board members complained that such a short notice prevented them from further research into the request.

They stated in the agenda that the report "failed to provide justifiable reason for the use of implosion" and "failed to demonstrate any methods that will be used to mitigate the potential dust episode."

"This application seems to be woefully missing that information," said Dianne Nielson, board member and executive director of the Department of Environmental Quality.

Ernest Wessman, vice chairman of the board, moved that the request be denied and the board voted unanimously with him. The decision could affect BYU's plans to raze the rest of Deseret Towers within two years.

Kate McNeil can be reached at 344-2549 or kmcneil@heraldextra.com

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page C1.