Waste from OMYA May Be Shipped To Strafford Superfund Site

Waste material from the OMYA, Inc. mining and processing operations in western Vermont, material which has stirred a storm of controversy, may be headed to the Elizabeth Mine Superfund site in South Strafford.

However, in the past few weeks, local concern has been raised. At the March 20 meeting of the Elizabeth Mine Community Advisory Group (EMCAG), EPA and state officials while updating the group on plans for this seasons work, mentioned in passing that they were going to run a pilot project using waste material from the OMYA operations. John Schmeltzer, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources project manager said it would involve between 15-20 truck loads or approximately 200 tons of material that could be useful to counter the effect of the more acid copper mine tailings. The pilot project was not described in any detail at the time and was not mentioned in the draft minutes. Later, during discussions with the community technical advisors, concerns arose regarding the use of this material.

On Tuesday, OMYA filed for an application with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation(DEC) for approval of an "Insignificant Waste Management Event" in order to place byproduct on the old mine site. The company hopes to get quick approval, and to start shipping their waste material next month, so that it could be effectively used this growing season in the pilot project.

In early April the independent technical advisors to the KEMCAG, after reviewing the results of the recent study, recommended "that the EMCAG not agree to the pilot test without much more testing of the Omya tailings".

EPA and state ANR officials will be meeting with the technical advisors on May 1 to present more information about the planned pilot project and to try to alliveate their concerns.

If the technical advisors are not satisfied, Ed Hathaway, EPA project manager for the site, has promised to hold off bringing the Omya waste to Strafford until after the issue can be discussed at a public meeting with the entire EMCAG at a time still to be scheduled later in May.

Global Producer

OMYA is a Swiss-based mining and chemical processing company with around 140 plants across the globe. It is the largest producer of ground calcium carbornate in the world. In 1976 OMYA purchased the Vermont Marble Company and built a factory in Florence, Vt. where marble is ground and chemically treated to make calcium carbonate.

The company now owns land in more than 20 Vermont towns along the marble vein in the Rutland valley. Quarries from Middlebury, South Wallingford, and Florence currently provide the raw material for the Florence plant, which ships the finished product out of state by rail. Calcium carbonate is used in the making of paper and paint, among other things.

The OMYA operation has also generated hundreds of thousands of tons of waste material, which has generated considerable controversy.

On June 24, 2005 a federal lawsuit was filed on behalf of Residents Concerned About OMYA by the Vermont Law School Environmental and Natural Resource Law Clinic, alleging that "Omya's open dumping of chemically contaminated solid wastes is creating an imminent and substantial endagerment to health or the environment".

Last month the results of a $30,000 study undertaken as part of that lawsuit were released. It found elevated levels of arsenic above state and federal safety standards in two of the wells on site and found that the arsenic is mobilized as a result of chemical action from the waste material. Previous tests have also turned up levels of Custamine 51D, a flotation reagent which OMYA uses to separate marble waste from the calcium carbonate, and kerosene.

Based on the results of these tests, the neighbors' group sought an injunction calling for OMYA to "cease the unlawful open dumping of solid wastes." They have also called for a comprehensive investigation of the waste material.

Solution Needed

Both the State Agency of Natural Resources and OMYA, Inc. are being pressured to find better ways of dealing with the waste material, which is largely limestone but may contrain traces of the chemicals used in processing.

Last year, OMYA funded a bench test at UVM which mixed the OMYA byproduct with tailings from the Ely copper mine, similar to those in Strafford. Plants were successfully grown on the mixture.

John Schmeltzer of the state DEC thinks the OMYA waste could be a benefit in re-establishing vegetation at the Elizabeth Mine. "Carbonate material has a high buffering capacity and can neutalize acid", he said.

In recent years,as part of the project, most all the vegetation on the over 30 acre top of the largest tailing pile has been removed, and the calcium carbonate byproduct could prove advantageous in starting new grass growth on the acidic tailings here and at other areas of the site, he suggested.

In fact, over the past three years, limestone, though not from OMYA, has already been effectively used in establishing new grass on the reconfigured slopes of the tailings piles.

If the OMYA waste material could be safely used in South Strafford, it would have the advantage of both helping to establish a vegetative cover and dealing with a troublesome byproduct of a major industry. Hence the desire for a pilot project to see if the successful bench test with the Omya byproduct could be repeated on a larger scale on site.

Caution Counseled

Annette Smith, Director of Vermonters for a Clean Environment, a group with a long history of concern with the Omya wastes, counseled caution.

"It would be great if there could be found a beneficial resue for this material," she said. "Possible options might be in mitigating the effects of acid mine drainage or the effects of acid rain in forests. However at this time there are too many unknowns and too many risks associated with the Omya wastes.

"Right now there is a great deal of potential when using these wastes of making things worse, not better," she advised.