Rutland Herald

Canadian couple take on OMYA in Ontario

April 23, 2001
By BRUCE EDWARDS
Herald Staff

Michael and Maureen Cassidy of Ottawa could have been mistaken for your typical tourists taking in the beauty of the Vermont countryside. For the Cassidys, however, their recent visit to Rutland County was far more business-like in nature.

The Canadian couple made the trip down to Vermont two weeks ago to get a first-hand look at OMYA's operations here and to better familiarize themselves with the company's expansion plans in Vermont.

The Cassidys and several other parties are locked in a dispute with OMYA over the company's plans to expand production at its Perth, Ontario, plant - an expansion that would require the taking of more than 1 million gallons of water a day from the Tay River.

But OMYA's plans hit a snag last year when the Cassidys and seven other opponents raised concerns about the company's proposal. In a rare move, the Ontario Environmental Appeals Board put OMYA's plans on hold while hearings are held on an appeal of the company's water-taking permit. It is only the third time that an appeal of this kind has been granted by provincial authorities.

A hearing on the appeal is scheduled for late June.

While water has not surfaced as a major issue in Vermont in connection with OMYA's expansion plans, Cassidy said opponents north and south of the border have other issues in common.

"We've got potential problems with trucking, which are an issue for a small township," said Michael Cassidy, who owns a weekend home two miles from OMYA's quarry.

In Vermont, OMYA has been stymied in its attempts to increase the number of trucks hauling marble ore from its Middlebury quarry to its plant in Florence. Both the Vermont Supreme Court and more recently a federal court have upheld the state's restrictions on OMYA's trucking.

Like those opposed to OMYA's proposed quarry in Danby, the Cassidys argue that the narrow rural roads leading from the quarry to the calcium carbonate processing plant are not designed to handle the number of heavy trucks that OMYA uses.

OMYA is now extracting less than 1 million tons a year at its Canadian quarry but has a permit to take a maximum of 4 million tons a year, according to James Reddy, executive vice president for OMYA's North American operations. Reddy added that the company had no timetable for reaching the maximum tonnage allowed.

The Cassidys have received moral support in Vermont from the Conservation Law Foundation and Annette Smith of Danby, the executive director of Vermonters for a Clean Environment. It was Smith who served as host on the couple's recent visit to Vermont.

The Cassidys have also questioned the effect OMYA's quarry operation is having on the health of a small lake near their property. Maureen Cassidy said that's an issue that the government may finally be willing to look at.

"The Department of Fisheries and Oceans may do a survey of the area around the mine," Maureen Cassidy said.

There are other issues as well, including whether the export of water (as part of the slurry product) violates the Canada-Wide Accord on water, a policy designed to discourage bulk water removal that could result in environmental harm. That policy, however, may be in conflict with the North American Free Trade Agreement, which fails to recognize environmental concerns as a reason for barring water exports.

Michael Cassidy said their intent was not to stop OMYA from expanding its business but to pressure the company to do so in a responsible way.

"Really, it's a matter of persuading the company to be responsible and responsive to the community, to be a good neighbor and to work out with the community ways in which can carry on its business without trashing the environment or turning people's lives (upside down)," he said.

He suggested that one way to reduce the company's dependence on water would be to produce more dry product instead of slurry.

OMYA's Reddy expressed confidence that the permit issued last August would be upheld.

"We were originally given the permit by the Environmental Board up there. They did all the environmental studies, considered all the issues, all the parameters of the permit were in order ... environmentally it was fine. So we're confident we're going to get it." Reddy said.

He noted that the permit requires a monitoring program so that if the river drops below a certain level OMYA is required to stop taking water.

Reddy also maintained that taking river water was preferable to continuing to take ground water.

Given the potential profits from OMYA's operation, the Cassidy's would like to see the company use an alternative mode of transportation to haul the marble ore the 32 miles from the quarry to the plant. Reddy, however, insisted that rail or a pipeline system is not feasible because of the distance involved.

Reddy also took issue with Cassidy's assessment that that OMYA stands to reap huge profits from its Perth operation.

"It's a very small percent. The profits are greatly exaggerated," he said.

As for making more dry product, Reddy said the company makes slurry because that was what the company's customers demanded.

"We are trying to sell more dry, but we have to sell what the customers want," he said.