EMCAG Members and Alternates Present: Deby Botelho, Jim Condict,
Linda Cook, Tom Essex, John Freitag, Rod Maclay,
Kendall Mix, Sheldon Novick, Gwenda Smith,
Kelly Welch and Steve Willbanks.
VT State Historic Preservation Office: Judy Ehrlich,
Giovanna Pebbles, and Emily Wadhams
VT Agency of Natural Resources: George Desch and Mike Young
EPA: Ed Hathaway and Bill Lovely
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Scott Acone and Stephen Umbrell
A.D. Little, Inc: Scot Foster, Claudia Nissley and Paul White
Copperas Hill Coalition: Kathy Hardy and Fred Moody
Facilitator: Cindy Cook, Adamant Accord

The meeting began at approximately 7:00 PM.

EPA Update

Ed Hathaway presented a preview of the draft Engineering Evaluation and Cost Analysis (EE/CA) and a site update. A copy of his presentation materials is attached hereto.

Remarks by State Historic Preservation Officer Emily Wadhams

Emily Wadhams introduced Giovanna Pebbles and Judy Ehrlich. She said that she'd had an incredible day touring the Ely and Elizabeth Mines, and that she was impressed by EPA's willingness to consider historic resources as it designs the cleanup. She applauded the interpretive work that has already been done by local historical societies and the Newton School and indicated that she hopes that the community will seek other resources to build upon the historic mitigation that EPA will pay for.

Emily also discussed her office's responsibilities under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, and welcomed the community's input in discussions regarding historic preservation.

ANR's Perspective on O & M Costs

George Desch stated ANR Secretary Scott Johnstone and the ANR staff want to preserve TP3, if:

1. human health is not adversely affected,
2. TP 3's instability is not a public safety hazard, and
3. the project can be designed so that O & M costs are affordable.

The prospect of ANR taking on responsibility for long-term O & M is a new one--the other state Superfund cleanups have been paid for by private parties. George indicated that if the state assumes the risk of treating runoff from TP3, he will want to minimize risk and O & M costs associated with other components of the cleanup--especially the cap on TP 1 and TP2. Consequently, ANR favors Alternative 2C.

George discussed the budgeting problem of how to plan for O & M costs that are cyclical with very high costs every 10-15 years. He indicated that the state may opt to contract with a private entity to even out O& M costs.

TAG Update

Fred Moody reported that Kathy Hardy is the new director of the Copperas Hill Coalition (CHC), and that he is assisting Kathy. The CHC is developing contracts with Dr. Richard Downer and Sherwood Reed for technical assistance.

Shepard Miller's Involvement in EE/CA Review

Ed indicated that he was willing to pay for Shepard Miller to visit the site to assess its potential for a water balance cover, if the EMCAG supported their involvement. He said that he wants to be sure that the EMCAG has the information it needs to evaluate the EE?CA. In response to a question, Ed estimated that it would cost approximately $20,000.00 for Shepard Miller to run its model and answer the question as to how thin an effective soil cover could be at the Elizabeth Mine Site.

Neal spoke in favor of Shepard Miller's involvement, but no other EMCAG members supported him, and the group decided that it did not choose to ask EPA to pay for Shepard Miller to visit the site.

Agenda for September 12 Meeting

Cindy asked that the EMCAG consider rescheduling or canceling the September 12th meeting, as she has a conflict. He group decided to hold the meeting as scheduled on September 12.

Mine History Presentation

Giovanna announced that as part of Vermont Archaeology Week, Matthew Kierstead will present a slide lecture on the history of hard rock copper in Orange County, Vermont, concentrating on the Elizabeth Mine at 2 PM, September 16 at Barrett Hall.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 PM.

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