Toxics In Vermont A Town-by-Town Profile 141 Main Street, Suite 6 – Montpelier, VT 05602 Phone (802) 223-4099 – fax (802) 223-6855 [email protected] – toxicsaction.org 1 Toxics In Vermont A Town-by-Town Profile January 2011 Report Author Jessica Edgerly, Vermont State Director, Toxics Action Center Henna Shaikh, Toxics Action Center Mapping Lauren DeMars, University of Vermont Ryan Emerson, Toxics Action Center Report Advisor Meredith Small, Executive Director, Toxics Action Center 141 Main Street, Suite 6 Montpelier, VT 05602 phone (802) 223-4099 fax (802) 223-6855 [email protected] toxicsaction.org About Toxics Action Center Toxics Action Center organizes with residents working to prevent or clean up pollution in their communities. Since 1987, Toxics Action Center has helped more than 650 communities clean up hazardous waste sites, decrease industrial pollution, curb pesticide spraying, and oppose the siting of dangerous waste, energy and industrial facilities. When the government won’t take action and the company denies that there is a problem, Toxics Action Center is a resource for residents concerned with pollution in their neighborhood. We provide residents with information about environmental laws, strategies for organizing, a network of activists around the region, and access to legal and technical experts. Toxics Action Center is funded by donations from 2 concerned citizens and grants from private foundations. This financial support enables us to provide our services free of charge to communities facing pollution threats. 3 Table of Contents Acknowledgements and Preface…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………4 Introduction to Toxics in Vermont..……..……………………………………………………………………………….…………….........5 Summary Map of Vermont Toxic Sites………………………………………….…………………………………………………..………. 7 Recommendations………...…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….….. 8 Take Action with an Environmental Organization…………………………………………………………………………………… 11 Overviews and Maps: Air Pollution Point Sources………………………………………………………………………………………………..………….. 12 Electricity Generators…………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………. 16 Hazardous Waste Generators…………………………………………………………………………….........................…. 19 Hazardous Waste Sites……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…. 21 Superfund Sites……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………… 23 Active and Inactive Landfills…………………………………………………………………………………………………...…….. 25 Water Dischargers……………………………………………………………………….…………………................................ 27 Underground Storage Tanks……………………………………………………………………...……….………………………… 29 Legal and Illegal Salvage Yards…………………………………………………………………………………….................... 31 Appendix A: Toxic Sites by County and Town Addison County…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 33 Bennington County……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 40 Caledonia County………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 49 Chittenden County………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 56 Essex County…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 76 Franklin County…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 79 Grand Isle County…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..87 Lamoille County……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..89 Orange County……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….94 Orleans County…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 100 Rutland County…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….108 Washington County…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 122 Windham County………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 134 Windsor County………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 147 Appendix B: Map: Landfills Closed Before 1988………………………………………………………………………………………. 148 4 Acknowledgements Toxics Action Center would like to thank the Canaday Charitable Trust for their support of this report. Thanks also to residents across Vermont who have organized to protect public health and the environment and to our members for your generous support of our work to clean up and prevent pollution throughout the state. Preface Toxics in Vermont: A Town-by-Town Profile is an easy-to-use source of information about many types of toxic sources and sites in Vermont. For each town this report lists: Air Pollution Point Sources Electricity Generators Hazardous Waste Generators Hazardous Waste Sites Superfund Sites Active and Inactive Landfills Water Dischargers Underground Storage Tanks Legal and Illegal Salvage Yards Toxics in Vermont: A Town-by-Town Profile contains the most current data available at the time of printing; therefore readers must keep in mind that the information presented in the report may not be completely up to date. More information about specific communities or specific types of toxic pollution can be found by contacting the sources of this information directly or by contacting Toxics Action Center at (802) 223-4099 or [email protected]. 5 Introduction to Toxics in Vermont Vermont is a one of the smallest states in the country, measured by either geography or population. Both Vermont’s Western and Eastern borders are defined by waterways. Lake Champlain, one of the largest inland lakes in the nation, creates Vermont’s Western border. The Connecticut River creates the state’s Eastern border with New Hampshire. Vermont’s most defining feature, however, are the Green Mountains for which it’s named, which create a spine down the center of the state. Through the 1880’s much of Vermont’s forest land was cleared for sheep farms. But today, three-quarters of the state is forested and cows have replaced sheep. Vermont’s cows produce nearly half of the milk drunk in New England1. Maple sugaring is another well known and significant agricultural industry in Vermont. In fact Vermont produces the most maple syrup of any state. Vermont’s bucolic landscape, quaint town centers, and famed ski slopes attract millions of tourists to the state every year. Vermont’s beautiful landscape makes it easy to forget that the same kinds and classes of chemicals we learned about from Rachel Carson, Love Canal, Woburn, and Cancer Alley are still in use today and threaten the safety of the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the land we live on. Vermont is dotted with toxic sources and sites: 272 industries release pollutants into the air under state permits 477 hazardous waste generators produce approximately 2.5 million pounds of hazardous waste each year 13 plants generate power from fossil fuels, wood waste, or nuclear power 1421 hazardous waste sites dot the state. Of these 102, or 1 in every 2-3 Vermont towns, is on the high priority list 11 toxic sites make the National Priority List, or Superfund. 33 facilities discharge water under state permits into rivers and lakes. 88 active and inactive landfills are currently tracked by the state. Appendix B shows the hundreds of old, unlined landfills closed before 1988 when the current solid waste management law went into effect. Approximately 3500 underground storage tanks hold gasoline, oil, and other fuels. 215 illegally operating salvage yards threaten the environment and draw down property values. Thirty years ago when people thought of protecting the environment they thought of picking up litter and about protecting our wilderness and wildlife. Yet in the late 1970s, toxic contamination at Love Canal near Niagara Falls, New York, a nuclear accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, and a leukemia cluster in Woburn, Massachusetts, made national news. Unfortunately, these tragedies were not isolated incidents, and Vermont has its own toxic legacy that will take decades to fully clean up. Despite significant threats to public health and the environment, we have an opportunity to protect and improve the quality of life in Vermont. The good news is that resources exist that could be allocated to protect public health. Additionally, local decision-making power in towns and cities allows communities to take action when state bureaucracy is unresponsive or lacks sufficient resources to enforce the law. 6 Across the state local community groups are forming to push for the clean up of these polluting sites. In Milton, Williamstown, Sharon, Strafford, and Georgia citizens’ groups are working with the town officials to force cleanups of salvage yards that spill junked cars into streams and pile tires high. In Cabot, Whey to Go is pushing AgriMark (the owners of Cabot Creamery) to live up to its green name and stop the practice of spraying industrial wastewater on agricultural fields. In Rupert, parents are working with local farmers to protect elementary school children from toxic pesticide exposure. In Williston, Lead Free Williston is demanding better of their neighbor, a shooting range. The range is now beginning to take responsibility for the decades of lead shot on their land. This report identifies the toxic sites in Vermont that threaten our environment and our health and calls on our state leaders to aggressively act to achieve a safe and toxics-free Vermont. 7 Map: Toxic Sites in Vermont 8 Recommendations Retire Vermont Yankee and Replace it with Energy Efficiency and Renewables Development Vermont boasts one of the oldest nuclear plants and the largest, per capita, store of nuclear waste in the nation. As Vermont Yankee has aged, it has experienced numerous leaks, collapses, cracks, and other failures that threaten the safety of the groundwater and the nearby Connecticut River and the health of surrounding communities. Vermont’s wind, solar, micro-hydro, and cow power,