http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070808/NEWS02/70808008/1007
August 8, 2007

Chemical found in quarry water

By Candace Page, Free Press Staff Writer

Perchlorate, a chemical linked to thyroid dysfunction in humans, has been detected in surface water discharged from a quarry in Pittsford.

The discovery does not necessarily carry health implications, since tests have not been done to determine the extent of the contamination or whether the perchlorate has reached groundwater supplies used for drinking.

Perchlorate was detected in surface water discharged from two settling ponds at opposite ends of the Hogback Quarry, where the Swiss company Omya Industries quarries marble and grinds it into calcium carbonate. One water sample showed 77 parts per billion of perchlorate; the other, 7.9 parts per billion.

Vermont’s drinking water standard for perchlorate is 4 parts per billion.

Perchlorate, an ingredient in rocket fuel, is also found in blasting agents used at hard-rock quarries. Its presence in surface water came to light during sampling by consultants for a study mandated by the Legislature of Omya’s impact, if any, on the environment and human health.

The Legislature acted at the request of Omya’s neighbors, some of whom have been concerned for years about possible pollution of their wells.

“The scientific process is working as it should. The consultants have identified perchlorate and now they are looking at those data and developing plans to take additional samples to determine its presence or absence in groundwater,” Jim Hamilton, Omya’s vice president for environmental and external affairs, said Tuesday.

Omya eliminated perchlorate from its primary blasting agents in 2006, Hamilton said, and the amount of the chemical used in subsidiary blasting compounds is tiny.

Annette Smith, an environmental activist and leader of Vermonters for a Clean Environment, said the findings at the Hogback Quarry have broader implications.

“This is a wakeup call for Vermont that we need to be testing for this contaminant at all sites that have the potential to discharge it. There are implications for the environment and public health,” she said.

High doses of perchlorate can interfere with the thyroid’s ability to take up iodine, a necessary element for human health, and lead to iodine deficiency, according to Bill Bress, state Health Department toxicologist.

Contact Candace Page at 660-1865 or cpage@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com