Elizabeth Mine Community Advisory Group Meeting

Barrett Hall, South Strafford, VT

January 28th, 2004

Meeting Summary

Approved May 12, 2004

Attendees:

EMCAG Members and Alternates Present: Deby Botelho, Kay Campbell, Jim Condict, Linda Cook, Tom Essex, John Freitag, Neal Meglathery, Gwenda Smith, Bob Walker and Steve Willbanks

VT Agency of Natural Resources: John Schmeltzer

EPA: Ed Hathaway, Bill Lovely, Steve Novick and Melanie Pincus

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Scott Acone and Jamie Holmes

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS): Bob Seal

URS: Jason Clere and Chris Hatton

Copperas Hill Coalition: Lori Barg, Anne Clift, Dick McGaw, and Fred Moody

Adamant Accord: Cindy Cook, Facilitator

Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry (ATSDR): Lovyst Luker, Gary Perlman and Dawn O’Conner

Welcome and Opening Remarks

EMCAG Chair Steve Willbanks opened the meeting at approximately 7:10 PM.

EPA Site Update

Ed Hathaway presented an update of site activities.

Ed gave an overview of the diversion pipe installation. A copy of his slide presentation of the pipe installation is attached to this summary.

Buttress Design

The project team is in the midst of buttress design. Ed proposed a meeting with the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) advisors in March to discuss technical issues regarding the buttress design. EPA plans to get the design package to the TAG advisors in April, and plan to start the five-moth construction season in May or June.

Truck Traffic

EPA projects that a maximum of 62 trucks per day will travel to the site during the 2004 construction season.

Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry (ATSDR) Discussion re Draft Health Assessment

The Agency of Toxic Substances and Disease Registry is a federal agency involved with hazardous waste and human health issues. ATSDR was created in 1980, and is responsible for preventing or reducing the harmful effects of exposure to hazardous substances on human health and quality of life.

Dawn O’Connor, Gary Perlman and Lovyst Luker described the Public Health Assessment development process. ATSDR develops Public Health Assessments to:

¨ Identify human exposure pathways

¨ Evaluate human health impacts,

¨ Identify environmental data gaps,

¨ Recommend actions needed to stop or reduce human exposure, and

¨ Determine needed follow-up activities.

ATSDR has conducted three Public Health Assessments for the Elizabeth Mine Site. ATSDR is currently gathering public input. It will issue a draft final assessment this Spring. There will be a 30-day comment period before the assessment it is finalized.

Copperas Hill Coalition (CHC) Update

CHC Chair Neal Meglathery noted that the CHC currently has three advisors: Lori Barg, Anne Clift and Dick McGaw. Guy Denechaud is now on the CHC board.

Lori Barg again expressed concern regarding the size of the pond on TP-1 and noted that she understood that one of the goals of the diversion work was to reduce the size of the pond. She noted that the ultimate size of the pond won’t be known until after spring thaw.

Dick McGaw agreed that it would be preferable if the pond were smaller, and noted that his other concerns have been addressed through discussions with URS staff.

Anne Clift discussed her interest in intercepting groundwater at the site. She suggested that a ground water diversion trench could perhaps also serve as a source of borrow material for the buttress.

Lori asked if the inlet pipe could be drilled so as to reduce the pond level. Scott Acone said that he would check with the manufacturer, but didn’t think that the pipe could be drilled without compromising its structural integrity.

Review of September 24 Meeting Summary

The review of the September 24, 2003 meeting summary was deferred to the next meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:27 PM.