Rutland Herald

State investigates spill at OMYA

December 29, 2000
By BRUCE EDWARDS Herald Staff

FLORENCE - The state is investigating a chemical spill of 4,500 gallons of biocide - a calcium carbonate preservative - that occurred last month at the OMYA Inc. plant.

The release of biocide occurred Nov. 18 because of equipment failure or human error at OMYA's Verpol plant, according to a report prepared for the company and filed with the Agency of Natural Resources.

Biocide, which is considered a pesticide, is added to the finished marble slurry product to prevent the growth of bacteria.

The report, prepared by the Burlington engineering consulting firm of Heindel and Noyes, found that the spill of ortho-phenylphenol, or OPP, had been contained in the company's three on-site holding ponds used for wash water from the plant.

The report also said that monitoring had detected "no evidence to date" of any contamination of groundwater or nearby wells, including the well that is the source of Pittsford's drinking water.

Marc Roy, head of the state's Hazardous Waste Division, said Thursday the state was monitoring the situation but that the spill appeared to be contained to the plant site and there was little public health risk.

"We feel there is a minor environmental threat as the result of this spill and we're monitoring it," he said.

Roy said the spill required no cleanup or treatment.

Neal Jordan, OMYA's manager of environmental and regulatory affairs, said the spill occurred when a hose leading from a biocide storage tank became disconnected, emptying the tank. He said equipment failure was the likely cause, though he could not rule out human error.

Jordan said remedial steps were taken to ensure a similar incident did not happen in the future.

He also said the company believed the spill posed no health threat.

"We don't believe there is," he said. "However, we must … monitor groundwater to make sure … there was no leakage of that into the groundwater."

Jordan said since the spill occurred, OMYA has continuously monitored the water in its holding ponds and that the latest test results show that the contaminants "have dropped very rapidly over time."

However, Annette Smith, executive director of Vermonters for a Clean Environment, said she was appalled at OMYA's carelessness in the handling of a hazardous material as well as the company's failure to notify the state about the spill in a timely fashion.

"If the state doesn't think that's important, I don't know what is important," said Smith, whose group opposes OMYA's proposed Jobe Phillips quarry in Danby.

She also expressed concern that the state was relying solely on OMYA's word.

"Nothing here inspires confidence," Smith said. "We want independent testing to assure us that not only this product but also all the other 500,000 pounds of biocides used (annually) by OMYA are not entering state waters."

Roy said it was the state's standard procedure for the party that caused the contamination to undertake its own study of the site. He said that procedure was followed unless there was reason to believe a second or independent study should be conducted.

Roy did, however, agree with Smith that OMYA did not notify the state in a timely fashion following the spill. As a result, he said the company has been issued a notice of alleged violation of its discharge permit.

He said the company is required to notify the state "immediately" after a spill is discovered. The spill occurred on Saturday, Nov. 18, but Roy said plant officials did not notify the state until the following day, about nine hours after the spill was discovered.

OMYA's Jordan, however, said the company maintained the state was notified in a timely fashion. But more importantly, he said, the spill did not have to be reported because "it did not qualify as a notifiable event under the hazardous waste management regulations."

He also noted that following the spill the company called in the biocide manufacturer and a microbiologist for consultation.

Gary Kessler, environmental enforcement attorney with the Agency of Natural Resources, said the matter remained under investigation for possible enforcement action.

OMYA said it intended to monitor the holding ponds and groundwater on a monthly basis and then scale back the monitoring of water samples over time.

The monitoring, according to the Heindel and Noyes study, will not include "nearby streams and wetlands since there is no likely risk of contamination."

This is not OMYA's first environmental problem.

The company's is facing a possible fine for violating its discharge permit by allowing untreated wastewater to flow into a wetland and into Smith Pond last December. Two similar incidents occurred in April of this year.

In 1996, the company was fined $3,500 for filling in a wetland and in 1998 was fined $2,500 for pollution control violations.