Open Pits

by Annette Smith (Executive Director of Vermonters for a Clean Environment, Inc.)

 

Electricity

Vermont’s Public Service Board’s Educational Conference “Retail Access Lessons Learned” was attended by more than 150 Vermonters interested in learning about the experiences other states have had after passing electricity deregulation legislation. The two-day forum featured presentations by utility experts from California, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, and details of how to implement the changes.

The message to Vermont is to move cautiously. VCE agrees with this advice and urges the attendees of the conference to work together to create a Vermont-based solution to Vermont’s electricity issues. As one of the smallest consumers of electricity in the nation, Vermont has an opportunity to develop an energy plan uniquely suited to our needs.

The first day of the conference was covered by the Rutland Herald: http://rutlandherald.nybor.com/News/Story/14542.html

Mining

OMYA, the privately-owned Swiss mining company proposing to open a new mine in Danby, is challenging opponents’ use of the term “strip mine” to describe the type of mining they do. As an example of the type of mine proposed for Danby, OMYA points to their mine in South Wallingford, known as SLC (pictured below):

According to the textbook “Economic Mineral Deposits”, by Alan M. Bateman, professor of Geology, Yale University, there are two types of mining: surface mining and underground mining.

OMYA owns the largest underground marble mine in the world, located in Danby. When OMYA announced their intention to open a new mine in Danby, there was widespread misconception that the new mine would be similar to the Danby Imperial Marble Quarry, which is an underground mine (pictured below):

The exposed white area to the right is the yard where OMYA inventories large blocks of marble. To the left, a new entrance has recently been opened. The quarrying operation is entirely underground, out of sight.

OMYA’s new mine would be quite different, involving stripping away the overburden to expose the rock, then blasting and digging into the surface to expose more and more rock.

There are several types of surface mining, all of which involve stripping away the overburden. While OMYA might prefer their mining to be referred to as “open pit”, with the pit itself limited in size, in fact OMYA’s operations in Vermont involve disturbance of considerably more land than just the “pit”. OMYA’s Hogback mine in Florence has been open for just five years, and involves an extensive network of roads to the north and south of the actual “pit” (pictured below):

Five years ago, the Hogback mine site was a field. Today it looks like this:

Vermonters for a Clean Environment, Inc.
789 Baker Brook Road, Danby, VT 05739
(802) 446-2094 || vce@sover.net || www.vtce.org