Mine Advisory Group Is Told
That Water Quality Is Worse
By John Freitag

Concerns over the logging at the Elizabeth Mine Site and deterioration of water quality in the West Branch of the Ompompanoosuc River dominated the discussion at a March 20 meeting of the Elizabeth Mine Advisory Group in South Strafford.

This past winter in preparation for work this summer, trees were removed from around the foundations of the old 19th century copperas factories, as well as the from the sides of the larger tailing piles.

Although officials from the EPA, Army Corp of Engineers and Vermont Agency of Natural Resources said that all logging was supposed to be done while the ground was frozen, this was wasn't adhered to, said neighboring property owner, Deby Botelho. She complained about branches and ruts left in the road. Clearly incensed at what went on this winter, Botelho at one point questioned whether this was "the Environmental Protection Agency or the Environmental Destruction Agency" in charge of the project.

Concerns about increased storm erosion from logging in the most toxic copperas tailing areas were also raised. It was noted that the West Branch was visibly very discolored during a thaw earlier this month.

It was also pointed out that loggers in Vermont are required to keep a buffer area around stream beds, but this was not the case with the logging done here where Copperas Brook runs through the tailings.

If logging had to be done in this area, it was felt that there should have been some efforts made to limit the likely increase in tailings washing downstream. EPA, state, and Army Corps officials, who said they had not yet seen the logging work, promised to look into it, talk with the contractor supervising the job, and see what could be done.

Test Samples

Also at the meeting, Steve Fiske, aquatic biologist with the Biomonitoring Aquatic Studies Section of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, spoke on the findings of sampling done this past summer both above and below where water from the mine site enters the West Branch of the Ompompanoosuc.

He reported that all sites showed a decrease in water quality.

One testing site a mile and one half downstream of the mine went from an assessment of "fair" to "poor."

He was unable to say what exactly caused the decrease, noting that the sampling was just a one-day snapshot. Fiske also noted that 2006 was a very wet summer and this could be a contributing factor both above and below the mine site.

Asked if the work at the mine site could have been a contributing factor, Agency of Natrual Resources project engineer John Schmeltzer said, "There is no smoking gun here."

Fiske, however, did acknowledge that removal of vegetative cover, moving of thousands of yards of tailings, and the opening of channels under the largest tailing pile might possibly be a contributing factor in the decrease of water quality below the mine."

This Summer

At the meeting, Ed Hathaway, EPA project manager for the Elizabeth Mine Site, outlined work to be done this summer with the $2-$3 million he expects to be allocated this year, focusing on four projects:

• Completing the surface water conveyance around the larger taling piles;

• Diverting Copperas Brook from running over these tailing piles;

• Removing part of one tailing pile while putting it on top of the larger one; and

• Eliminating the pond on top of the larger tailing pile.

He said he thought the number of trucks involved would be roughly the same as last year.

Alan Ricketts, who lives on the trucking route, estimated that to be 2,500 trips.

Hathaway reported that several aspects of the project have not yet received funding. These include excavation and placement of material from the upper tailing area on top of the largest tailing pile, a cover system for the lower tailing piles, seep treatment from the largest tailing pile, a cover system over the old Copperas factories, design and construction of Lord Brook Source Area and developemnt of long-term monitoring and maintenance plans.

The project, which has cost over $15 million to date, will likely run well over $30 million before it is completed.