Rutland Herald

OMYA plan stirs debate

September 4, 2000
By SANDI SWITZER Herald Correspondent

DANBY - A standing-room-only crowd packed the sweltering Danby Four Corners Town Hall last week to learn more about a proposed quarry operation for the region.

Approximately 125 people filled the seats, aisles and even doorways in the small building on Thursday as they listened to guest speakers talk about roads, geology and the state's permitting process.

Geologist Lance Mead, former state Environmental Board attorney Stephanie Kaplan and road engineer Roger Dickinson were the three featured speakers.

Citizens heard about the impacts heavy trucks have on town highways, the natural resources located in the mountains of Danby and how to become involved in the Act 250 process.

OMYA Inc. sent a preliminary proposal to the town last January related to mining activities on nearby Dutch Hill, but has not filed an application for a state land use permit.

That proposal has generated sizeable opposition not only in Danby, but in neighboring Tinmouth, Wallingford and other towns as well.

The hearing Thursday, sponsored by Vermonters for a Clean Environment, drew citizens and town officials from around the region, as well as an OMYA attorney.

Dickinson, who performed soil borings on roads in the three towns, reported those town highways were not built to handle the amount of traffic outlined in OMYA's proposal.

It calls for loaded 5-axle, 76,000-pound, 18-wheel trucks to travel from Danby through Tinmouth and Wallingford onto Route 7 north to Florence.

OMYA's preliminary estimates indicate a need for 40 round-trips a day, six days a week.

Dickinson said with that amount of heavy truck traffic there is a "great potential for damaging existing roads."

In response to a question on road improvements, Dickinson said it would cost approximately $300,000 per mile to fully reconstruct a town road, including digging out the existing material and replacing it with new pavement.

There are more than eight miles of town road between Danby and Wallingford, he said.

Kaplan gave the audience a basic lesson in the Act 250 process, outlining its 10 criteria, and discussing how citizens and neighbors can become involved by seeking party status.

When asked what neighbors can do to fight the project, Kaplan responded that citizens need to be organized, have good expert witnesses for Act 250 hearings, gather financial support and fully understand the nature of the project.

"It's not an easy thing to do but it's possible," she said.

Mead provided background information on OMYA's quarry operations in Vermont and throughout the United States.

He characterized the privately owned company as the single largest producer of calcium carbonate in the world.

Danby Planning Commission member Phillip Hodge said there are several options to consider including: do nothing, fight it, support it, offer to buy out OMYA or require mitigation.

"I think we need to examine many options," he said.

Although much of the discussion focused on opposition to the project, a couple of people spoke in favor of it.

Steve Haines of Danby suggested local officials not take a stand on the project until a townwide vote is taken on the matter.

He said if the project created even one job so a family can eat or buy heating oil, "How can you deny them the right to live?"

The Danby Select Board has scheduled a public forum with OMYA representatives on Sept. 26 at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall.