Rutland Herald

OMYA gains more support

June 16, 2000
By BRUCE EDWARDS Herald Staff

Associated General Contractors of Vermont has thrown its moral and financial support behind the trucking company that hauls marble ore for OMYA Inc.

Saying that restricting the use of truck traffic along Route 7 threatens the economy of the state and the region, AGC announced Thursday that it had earmarked $20,000 to help L.F. Carter Inc. of Pittsford.

The money will help Carter in its legal fight to overturn a state Environmental Board decision that severely restricts OMYA's ability to haul marble ore from its Middlebury quarry to its calcium carbonate processing plant in Pittsford.

Carter filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Burlington Wednesday seeking to intervene in the OMYA case. The trucking company, whose sole customer is OMYA, also asked the court to lift its stay and requested declaratory relief from the Environmental Board's ruling.

OMYA filed suit in federal court last year seeking to overturn the board's decision which limits the number of truck trips to 115 per day. OMYA, which is seeking 170 truck trips a day, argued that the decision violated its constitutional rights, including its rights under the commerce clause of the constitution.

The federal lawsuit, however, remains on hold while OMYA appeals the Act 250 permit decision to the state Supreme Court.

AGC officials said during a press conference in Rutland that they had taken the action for several reasons. Its 140 members not only had serious concerns about L.F. Carter's business and OMYA's ability to expand, but also about the dangerous precedent the Environmental Board's decision might have in stifling business growth and the creation of good paying jobs in the state.

"We are strong believers in the free enterprise system and believe that for good paying jobs and a strong economy in Vermont we need to foster a good and positive business climate. We also believe in the historic tradition of Vermont's free flow of commerce and the constitutional right to use our federally designated highways," AGC President Debra Ricker said.

Carter argued in court papers that the Environmental Board's decision should be overturned based on the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution. That clause, Carter said, dictates that federal law pre-empts state law.

Since federal law prohibits the states from regulating a trucking company's price, routes or service, the state board's decision violates Carter's constitutional rights under the supremacy clause, the company said in its motion to intervene.

William Fead, a lawyer with the Burlington law firm of Paul, Frank & Collins, which represents Carter, said that while traffic is a legitimate concern in Act 250 proceedings, such concerns have hinged on safety issues. According to Fead, the OMYA case is unique because it was the first time that a permit restricted traffic based solely on aesthetic impacts. (In its May 1999 decision, the board ruled that an increase beyond 115 truck trips a day through Brandon would harm the town's historic and aesthetic character).

Fead warned that if the Environmental Board's decision stands it has the potential to "throttle" the major northwest highway corridor in the state.

Instead of attempting to restrict traffic along a federal highway, Fead said that "the state needs to take a rational, comprehensive, planned, rigorous approach to addressing the infrastructure needs of the state."

The Rutland area has experienced the loss of several hundred manufacturing jobs in the past several years with Tambrands and Moore Business Forms leaving town. On Wednesday, Mal Tool and Engineering Co. announced it was closing its Rutland plant in September, throwing 35 people out of work.

Spokesmen for John A. Russell Corp. and Smelly Contractors, both AGC members, spoke in support of OMYA and Carter, as did David O'Brien, executive director of the Rutland Economic Development Corp.

O'Brien said the region cannot afford to lose any additional high-paying manufacturing jobs.

"We must provide a climate in this region and in this state that fosters the growth of our vital employers like OMYA," O'Brien said.