Rutland Herald
Rutland County Journal
November 22, 2000

Spill contained, OMYA says

FLORENCE - Equipment failure at one of OMYA's marble processing plants in Florence allowed 4,500 gallons of a product preservative to spill into an on-site wash-water pond Saturday, the company reported.

None of the material or water left the company site, OMYA president John Mitchell said in a statement released Tuesday.

The state was notified by phone at 2 a.m. Sunday, and later that day the company met at the pond with officials from Pittsford and the state's Agency of Natural Resources to examine the spill.

According to Mitchell, OMYA's engineers believed the material was safely contained in the wash-water system and would biodegrade in a short time. The company was looking at ways to speed the process, he said.

OMYA was working with an outside environmental consultant, as well as the state and the town, Mitchell said.