Rutland Herald

OMYA told it needs permit for ‘dump’

November 23, 2003
By BRUCE EDWARDS Staff Writer

PITTSFORD — Plans by OMYA Inc. to build a 32-acre waste storage facility suffered a setback Friday when the state announced that the calcium carbonate company would have to obtain a waste disposal permit.

The decision by Jeffrey Wennberg, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, reversed a preliminary ruling he made in September that would have exempted OMYA from obtaining a permit to construct its above-ground storage facility for mineral waste.

OMYA argued that it should not be required to obtain a waste management facility permit, because mining operations are exempt under the law and that marble waste from its nearby Florence processing plant posed no health or environmental risk.

“I believe we showed in the scientific evidence we presented that we should get the exemption,” OMYA President James Reddy said in a recent interview. “The independent outside scientists said it was safe. It was reviewed by the toxicologists and the scientists at the state. They agreed it was safe.“

But opponents, including environmental groups and neighbors of the proposed dump, argued that the calcium carbonate waste from the plant contains trace amounts of chemicals that could pose a risk to ground water. Opponents have also raised concerns about dust, noise, and airborne contaminants.

OMYA has been dumping ground marble waste at the site (of an abandoned marble quarry) for years, and recently sought approval to expand the site to accommodate waste from its growing operation.

In Friday’s decision, the DEC noted that OMYA’s plans for the site did not include installing a liner or impermeable barrier “to prevent the tailings, chemical additives, water or storm water from leaching into the ground.” The decision went on to explain that while the mineral waste itself doesn’t necessarily pose a health or environmental threat, the state Department of Health determined that chemical additives have been “detected in groundwater monitoring wells near the tailings site” and that the amounts detected were “at levels of regulatory concern.”

In reversing his earlier decision, Wennberg said Saturday that the potential impact of chemical additives on the groundwater was of concern to the DEC. Of particular concern, he said, is the level of tall oil that might leach into local drinking water. Tall oil is used as a flotation agent to separate the tailings from the calcium carbonate product.

A state Health Department analysis determined that tall oil should not exceed 25 parts per billion. But Wennberg said at least one sample from an OMYA test well exceeded that limit.

“Given that it is the chemical additive that is in greatest quantities and given that the Heath Department’s recommendation was low, and given there was at least one on-site test well sample that shows amount in excess of that, I felt the threshold for determining whether or not the additives may pose a risk to human health had been passed,” Wennberg said.

He added that during the permit process OMYA will be able to challenge the Health Department’s findings. As far as what kind of health risk tall oil poses, Wennberg said it was his understanding that it was an irritant.

When he issued his preliminary decision in September exempting OMYA from obtaining a waste permit, Wennberg said the information on tall oil was not available to him.

The DEC also will require OMYA to obtain a state dam permit, which requires an engineering review to ensure the holding facility is designed and built safely. The storage facility will have a life expectancy of 10 years and reach a height of 80 feet.

OMYA will not have to obtain what is called an underground injection control permit, or UIC. That permit will not be required because the waste disposal permit review process will address the same issues, the DEC said in its decision.

Wennberg’s initial decision in September was met with an outcry from environmental groups and neighbors, including the Vermont Law School’s Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic, the Toxics Action Center in Montpelier, Vermonters fro a Clean Environment, and Residents Concerned about OMYA.

OMYA, based in Switzerland, is the world’s largest producer of ground calcium carbonate. The Florence plant grinds a million tons of marble a year, which is used in the paint, paper, plastics, food, and pharmaceutical industries.

Contact Bruce Edwards at bruce.edwards@rutlandherald.com