Rutland Herald

Quarry proposal prompts petition

March 6, 2000
By SANDI SWITZER Herald Correspondent

DANBY - A group of Danby citizens is calling on the town to commission a study on the potential impacts of a proposed quarry operation near the Four Corners area.

Danby Citizens for Responsible Growth presented the Select Board with a petition on March 2, asking the town to retain an "independent expert" to assess OMYA Inc.'s plan to open a calcium carbonate ore mine on Dutch Hill.

The petition, signed by 123 residents and property owners, states the project would have a significant negative impact on home and property values, the grand list and the local tax rate.

"If OMYA is allowed to proceed any further with their intention, widespread reduced appraisals, as well as resale value, for home, farm and business properties in the Four Corners area, and along all possible truck routes will follow, forcing Danby's grand list downwards," the petition states.

About 20 people attended the Select Board meeting in support of the petition.

Stephen Burzon, who spoke on behalf of the group, read from a prepared statement. He said the Four Corners and Tinmouth Valley area was a "rural, residential and agricultural treasure of great tourist value to Danby Borough and to the town."

He further noted that "once the delicate balance of the area is destroyed by a huge open-pit mining operation, similar to the one in South Wallingford, the economics of the entire area will be upset."

The OMYA proposal calls for drilling, blasting, crushing and screening activities at the Jobe Phillips Quarry property in order to provide ore to the OMYA processing plant in Florence.

The proposed haul route would have trucks exiting the 400-acre site, traveling the East Tinmouth Road to Route 140 in Wallingford, then traveling north on Route 7 through Clarendon, Rutland City, Rutland Town and Pittsford to Florence.

The calcium carbonate would then be processed into fillers and extenders for the paper, plastic and paint industries.

The plan calls for a maximum of 40 round trips a day, six days a week.

A suggestion was made at the Select Board meeting that the person hired to provide an assessment of the project's impacts have no ties to OMYA or to the town to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

In response to the petition, officials agreed to appoint a volunteer committee of no more than nine members to generate a list of experts available to provide the assessment, as well as its estimated cost.

Once that information is available, board members said, they would call for a townwide vote on whether to pursue the study.

Officials plan to circulate a sign-up sheet for the volunteer committee at town meeting tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Four Corners Town Hall.