Word: mining
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...worst problem, however, remains aesthetics. Omya officials claim that the quarry's surface would be no larger than 33 of the 400 acres on the Danby site, where core samples have assured them there is good marble to be found. Locals are worried about mine creep, however, with the pit growing wider as markets for marble grow bigger. Reddy (who has some environmental expertise, having served on a desert-land-use panel to which he was appointed by former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt) believes there are ways to make the mine in Danby less of an eyesore. Building grassy berms...
...this, plus the white wound left when a mine is gouged out of a mountain, can only hurt property values. Carolyn Droge, 38, an artist who helps care for her elderly parents, tried to sell their airy, wood-beamed house overlooking the proposed mine site so her father could move closer to the hospital. A home that she believes should have sold practically overnight took many months to move. "Once buyers learned about the mine," she says, "they walked away...
...most vexing problems the company must tackle in Vermont is water. The extensive local marble deposits are shot through with underground springs that help keep whole stretches of the state hydrated. The risk exists that a badly placed mine could siphon away water and cause a large area to dry up. Omya is studying the problem by drilling test wells around the Danby site and measuring water levels as they change over the year. "We can proceed safely if the hydro studies say so," says Reddy. Smith is doubtful: "Some people worry that water in their ponds is already beginning...
...congested roads, and one way is by expanding rail shipments. Both the state and the company are lobbying for a new rail spur--financed by taxpayers and Omya--to connect the company's processing plant in Florence with its biggest quarry, in nearby Middlebury. Though the proposed mine in Danby would add trucks to the road, the Middlebury spur would take many more off, about four for every operating railcar...
Some Vermonters argue that mining, while it may be a messy business, is literally in the state's veins and that Omya at least tries to mitigate some of its impact. Says Jerome Breton, 69, who lives on a 200-acre dairy farm adjacent to the Omya property: "This is a working-class community, and we need what few jobs Omya is going to create." Breton isn't even sure that most native Vermonters are opposed to the mine. "Outsiders are against it because they feel the quarry is going to interfere with their luxury of living. They're trying...