Cabot's plan to expand wastewater spraying subject of public hearing
Toolbox
By THATCHER MOATS STAFF WRITER - Published: December 8, 2009
MARSHFIELD — Barry Irish said he once worked at Cabot Creamery and can remember the chemicals that were used to clean equipment at the cheese company's plant. He's shocked some of those same chemicals are in wastewater the company spreads on farmers' fields in northern and central Vermont to dispose of excess fluids created in the cheese-making process.
"The chemicals we used to clean with are being spread out on fields. What's that going to do to the animals? It's not going to grow stuff; it's going to kill stuff," Irish said.
Irish was one of about 40 people who attended a public hearing last week regarding Cabot Creamery's request to expand the number of fields where it can spread wastewater. The hearing was a chance for officials from the Agency of Natural Resources to get input from the public.
Irish was one of several people opposed to Cabot's wastewater disposal practice, but there are also residents who think the practice is harmless and helps irrigate and fertilize farmers' fields.
Larry Gochey is a Cabot selectman who said he was speaking at the meeting as a resident. He has lived near the creamery for decades, he said, and sees no problem.
"All that I can tell you is I have been there for 62 years and I have been the closest to that plant than anybody and I am not sick," he said. "My wife happened to have cancer, but it had nothing to do with the creamery."
Cabot Creamery has been spreading wastewater on fields since it was issued a permit to do so in 1991 and some people have opposed it since the beginning. With its recent application, the company hopes to expand the "indirect discharge" program to fields in Barton, Craftsbury, Glover, Lyndon, Marshfield, Plainfield, St. Johnsbury and Sheffield.
The wastewater that is trucked from the creamery and sprayed on farmer's fields is a mixture from two different sources. The water and chemicals used to clean the cheese-making equipment in the facility is mixed with liquid that is extracted from whey, a valuable cheese byproduct that is often used as a food additive. The solids from the whey are kept while the liquids are disposed of.
Many of those who spoke out against the expansion at the hearing at Twinfield Union School oppose the entire disposal program and not just its expansion. They were specifically upset with the cleaning chemicals that are in the wastewater and less concerned with the organic materials from the milk and cheese.
Some of them claim that spreading wastewater creates a higher risk of cancer, though state and company officials say the practice is not dangerous, and have said the soil acts as a good filter that protects waterways.
An official at the Agency of Natural Resources said the chemicals in the wastewater are not dangerous because they are so diluted with water.
"It's a lot of water basically, because you have to dilute the chemicals, because you don't want concentrated chemicals in contact with the food," said John Akielaszek, the chief of the indirect discharge program at the Agency of Natural Resources.
Jessica Edgerly, a community organizer with Toxics Action Network, said simply dispersing man-made chemicals is not the answer.
"Dilution is no longer accepted as a solution to pollution," Edgerly said in her testimony.
The real solution, many people believe, is for Cabot Creamery to build a treatment plant to deal with the wastewater.
Jill Alexander, a member of the grassroots group Whey To Go, which opposes the wastewater spreading, said that's what she is hoping for.
"All we're asking them to do is put in the wastewater treatment plant they originally promised," Alexander said.
According to Jim Pratt, the senior vice president for operations at Cabot Creamery, an expansion at the company was approved in the 1980s with a condition — that it build a wastewater treatment plant.
But that proved to be unfeasible because of technical complications and economics, he said.
Akielaszek said that one problem with a treatment plant is that the Winooski River is too small at the company's location to pipe treated water directly into the stream.
Once officials determined the treatment plant would not work, they approved the spraying program in 1990 and have been renewing Cabot Creamery's permit ever since. The permit now allows for 150,000 total gallons of wastewater a day to be spread on fields and 35,000 gallons per day of wastewater to be spread on the company's property.
Plainfield resident Laura Ziegler said the clashing testimony from both sides would not be settled at the public hearing. But the claims of health problems are reason enough for the state to do a full investigation, she said.
"That it hasn't happened yet I think is very troubling," Ziegler said.
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