Vt. Won't Pay If Mine Pile Stays

Official: Costs Would Be Too High at Strafford Site

By Bob Hookway
Valley News Staff Writer

Thetford -- The state will not assume costs stemming from any Elizabeth Mine cleanup project that includes preserving a pile of mining waste rock, the head of Vermont's Department of Environmental Conservation said last night.

Jeffrey Wennberg told about 40 people gathered at the Thetford Center Community Center that in order for the state to assume long-term maintenance and operations costs after a cleanup at the Strafford mine, the pile -- and its potential pollution and disposal problems -- would have to go.

EPA officials announced in March what they say is the very low possibility of one of the three piles of rock residue, also known as tailings, at Elizabeth Mine collapsing and releasing a 9-foot-high mudslide. The announcement was made as a result of a recent study, and not because anything had changed to suggest that collapse is imminent, officials have said. Officials said a mudslide could destroy 11 Thetford homes, take out parts of Route 132 and eventually contaminate the Connecticut River.

The tailings are the waste from the copper mining operation that took place for decades in Strafford before the Elizabeth Mine ceased operations in 1958. Some in town, as well as state historic preservation officials, believe as much of the historic site as possible -- including the piles -- should be preserved.

But Wennberg for the first time last night announced publicly that the state will not be part of any such plan. He said that depending on factors such as whether cadmium, a hazardous waste whose disposal is expensive, is found in Tailing Pile 3, as the Environmental Protection Agency has labeled the pile, the annual cost to monitor and maintain the pile could be half a million dollars.

“That is a number that is a nonstarter for the state of Vermont. The Agency of Natural Resources is not going to assume the financial or environmental responsibility for the preservation of TP3. That cost would have to be borne by others. We have to hold the taxpayers of the state harmless,” he said.

The largest share of the mine cleanup is slated to be assumed by the EPA through its Superfund aimed at the nation's most polluted sites. The Elizabeth Mine was added to that list two years ago, and approved for a $16 million project. The agency, however, has not yet received that money.

Apart from the cleanup, Wennberg said the state is ready to assume financial responsibility in perpetuity for monitoring and maintaining the site once the tailings piles are closed and capped. He suggested that any groups concerned with historic preservation of the piles would have to assume the financial responsibility.

John Freitag, chairman of Citizens for a Sensible Solution, which opposes the EPA's role in the matter, dismissed the idea that any entity but a government would have the financial ability to assume the cost of preserving the tailings piles.

“I think it's ludicrous,” said Freitag, of Strafford, in an interview after Wennberg's presentation. He said that if the state were forced to assume a portion of the cleanup costs, “we'd be looking at much better solutions.” The citizens group believes the EPA has overstated the environmental threat the mine site poses to the community and is planning a much more radical response than is necessary.

Freitag, also a Strafford selectman, likened the EPA's cleanup plan to “driving a nail with a sledgehammer.”

In an interview after last night's meeting, Wennberg said he didn't know what group might be willing or able to assume the costs he described.

“I don't know, it's a tall order,” he said. Wennberg denied that the EP

A is going overboard in its cleanup plan. He cited the work of several other environmental officials who discussed the mine last night, including Ed Hathaway of the EPA's Boston office. Wennberg said he believed the EPA's plan is the best solution available now, and said his agency’s top priority is ensuring the water quality in the area of the former mine.

“Our goal is not just to make a good try at having clean water. Our goal is to get clean water,” he said.