If you have the means and are interested in helping others, contributions to Shareheat should be mailed to: CVPS Shareheat Fund, 77 Grove Street, Rutland, VT 05701.

We believe an informed conversation about our operations is a necessary component to our success. We acknowledge that although Omya is in compliance with VT State rules and regulations, our operations have impacts in the local community and we actively address issues of concern with our neighbors and others. We will be diligent in our efforts to continue encouraging and promoting constructive dialogue.
Visit our Community Section.

The Community Advisory Board will be a body of local residents who meet regularly with Omya to provide input into decisions that matter to them. By serving as an ongoing link between Omya and its neighbors, the Community Advisory Board will foster open and timely communication as well as collaborative results.

In our ongoing effort to better respond to community questions or concerns, we have created a dedicated phone line for community members to register their concerns or suggestions regarding our mineral processing operations.

A notification letter outlining the creation and function of this dedicated phone line is being mailed out to neighbors and will be posted within the community and on this website. The website will also be used to periodically present the information received and the corresponding follow-up actions.

Omya Vermont actively is soliciting community participation regarding the regulatory initiatives currently underway. We are committed to open and informed public processes and have created this website as a first step towards strengthening the dialogue between the company and its interested community.

We have spoken to many residents about the operations in and around our facilities and it is our goal to incorporate community opinions and concerns into our operational practices and regulatory applications.

To achieve that goal, Omya recently launched “Community Issue Teams” as a forum to work with area neighbors on issues that matter to our community. Through these Teams, residents can communicate their concerns, Omya may explain its operational activities, and the group can collaborate to develop solutions. For more information about the Community Issue Teams, see our Issue Teams web page.

We welcome your thoughts as well. If you would like to share ideas or concerns with Omya in Vermont, please submit a comment.

In the coming months, there will be several ongoing opportunities for community members to participate more actively with Omya through involvement with the Community Advisory Board. An announcement on the formation of this board is expected shortly. Please check back soon to learn learn more about opportunities for public

Click here (65KB) to view our proposed outreach program for Interim Certification.

In Vermont, Omya quarries marble, which then is ground, milled, and purified to produce a finely ground calcium carbonate. (watch a video of our operations – click here) Calcium carbonate is a necessary ingredient used in a wide array of consumer products ranging from paint and paper, to vinyl siding and diapers. With over 200 employees, we are a large and economically significant employer in Vermont.

www.omya-na.com
www.omyainvermont.net
Download PDF map of Omya locations

Omya monitors its groundwater by sampling and testing wells and surface water stations located throughout the plant site. In an effort to share the information collected at these sites, Omya is making its August 2005 Groundwater Monitoring Plan and December 2005 Groundwater Sampling Report available to the public through our website.

Click here to view Omya’s Surface and Groundwater Management Practices

07.22.08 Spring Monitoring Report [.pdf] (5.8MB)

05.12.08 Revised Site Monitoring Plan [.pdf] (1.31MB) and appendices [.pdf](19.6MB)

05.07.08 Omya installation of additional groundwater monitoring wells:

11.13.07 Omya DEC Response Letter [.pdf] (135KB)11.05.07 VT DEC Letter to Omya [.pfd] (87KB)

# 07.27.07 Spring 2007 Monitoring Report [.pdf] (2.2MB)

Act 250 Permit Application (6.11.07)

On June 7, Omya submitted an application for an Act 250 permit amendment to the District 1 Environmental Commission. Act 250 is a state law governing land use and development. It was enacted to protect Vermont’s natural resources by evaluating projects under ten criteria reviewed initially by local District Environmental Commissions.

Omya’s permit application proposes the construction of an enclosed “Tailings Dewatering Facility” to remove water from the tailings produced by Omya’s plant in Florence. The footprint of the dewatering facility will be less than two acres, and is consistent with the plans put forward in Omya’s 2005 application to the State of Vermont for Interim Certification of its tailings management.

The proposed dewatering facility will improve overall operations by enhancing water recovery from the tailings product, which currently is conducted in open settling cells. Within a controlled environment of tanks and equipment, the facility will increase the removal of process water and recycle it back to the plant for re-use.

The new facility improves Omya’s ability to manage its tailings product, pursue the sale of the material, and strengthen the plant’s environmental performance. The overall project, at a cost of approximately $10 million, will reduce the water content of Omya’s tailings product, allow Omya to manage the tailings more efficiently, and recapture and reuse the water for its production process. Omya is seeking commercial uses of the tailings product that could lead to a reduced need to retain the material on-site.

Expanded view of the Act 250 Permit Application:

Omya recently launched “Community Issue Teams” as a forum to work with area neighbors on issues that matter to the community. The teams join members from the local community and employees from Omya, who are familiar with the company’s operations, around the specific area of issues raised by the local residents.

This process was designed so that residents may communicate their concerns, Omya may describe its operations, and together the group can work toward crafting solutions.

GOALS

The Teams aim to:

Plant Issue Team