Danby landowners deny OMYA access to study groundwater

Manchester Journal
September 14, 2001

Used with permission of the Manchester Journal
By Anita Pomerance

DANBY -- Two landowners in the Danby Four Corners area have denied OMYA access to their land in the wetlands east of OMYA's proposed calcium carbonate quarry to study groundwater.

Further, a state ecologist has expressed concerns about OMYA's monitoring plans in these fens, fearing the consequences of drilling wells and installing pipes.

OMYA had approached nearby landowners about installing groundwater monitoring stations after an ANR expert expressed concerns about a proposed quarry near the fragile swamplands.

OMYA's plans, as described to the state, have been criticized on several counts by ecologist Eric Sorenson of the Non-Game and Natural Heritage Program of the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources.

In a letter to OMYA's hydrogeologist Eric Hansen, and another to ANR hydrogeologist Michael Smith, Sorenson questioned the timing of the requests and the length and nature of the study. He also suggested the need to approach the owner of land nearest the proposed quarry site.

Hansen said recently that the two landowners OMYA approached have denied access to their land, and a third has not been asked because she has already indicated that she would also deny access.

ANR Planning Director Stephen Sease said this week that the state has no authority to require studies, but will have to consider whether OMYA is providing adequate information when the proposal comes under review during the Act 250 land use permit process.

"We have to act in the best interests of the fens," Sorenson said.

Sorenson's letter to OMYA expressed concern that access requests to landowners were being sent out before the submitting of a "revised hydrogeologic plan" requested by the state in February.

OMYA's Hansen said the plan should be ready around Sept. 18.

Sorenson also noted that the proposed study was described to landowners as lasting a year, whereas he believed that groundwater monitoring should continue, "for the life of the project." Hansen has said that he agrees with the need for continued monitoring.

Sorenson also wrote of his concerns about the proposed drilling rig for installing two-inch PVC pipes.

"The soft, saturated soils in these areas are very sensitive to disturbance," he wrote, and "rutting could seriously alter surface water hydrology."

In a phone interview, Sorensen said that even a small-track vehicle would do harm because the ground in a fen doesn't freeze.

Hansen said the plan had never been to bring rigs into the fen area, only to use them where "it's deep to groundwater."

sorenson said even the pipes are a concern because they could change the fens.

OMYA's letters to the landowners followed a July 20 report by Sorenson that described the wetlands as being of "high state significance" because of the presence of several fens that harbored rare and uncommon species of plants and animals.

According to Annette Smith of Vermonters for a Clean Environment, it was investigation financed by private citizens that spurred the state studies. She said VCE hired botanist Marc Lapin to study the wetlands after Smith learned the state had no information about the environmental significance of the wetlands east of the proposed Jobe Phillips Quarry site.

OMYA geologist Don Burns, when requesting in March 2000 that ANR Fish and Wildlife Technician Kristen Rose review their plan in terms of Act 250 Criterion 8A, said he saw no potential impact based on the town of Danby's Significant Habitat Map.

Rose responded that the state's database revealed no known occurrences of rare, uncommon or endangered species, although they would like to make a biological evaluation of the site.

VCE's Smith said OMYA rejected their requests for access to the site for botanical studies.

Sorenson's site visit in June this year confirmed the presence of the fens and the rare species, including the globally threatened Schweinitz's sedge, which were first documented in September 2000 by Lapin.