STRAFFORD — 25 years after designating the Elizabeth Mine a Superfund site, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation are working through the third and final phase of cleanup.
The Vermont Waste Management and Prevention Division filed a petition last month to reclassify groundwater in and around the mine site as non-potable. If approved, the petition would specify properties where groundwater is not safe for human consumption because it may be contaminated with heavy metals left over from mine waste.
The petition has always been part of the “road map” of cleaning up the site, said Charlie Lawrence, a hazardous site manager for the DEC.
“This isn’t something we sort of decided last-minute,” Lawrence said. “This was all prescribed years ago in the original record of decision, and it’s exciting that we’re finally to this point.”
In 2021, the EPA wrapped up phases one and two of cleanup, including all physical work, at the former Strafford copper mine designated as one of the most polluted sites in the country. For decades, the Elizabeth Mine polluted local soil, groundwater and waterways, including Lord Brook and the Ompompanoosuc River.
In “phase three,” the property and groundwater will continue to be monitored and “institutional controls” will be enacted, such as the reclassification.
Vermont DEC submitted the petition for reclassification last month and is taking public comment on the proposal through Monday, June 6.
The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources has filed a draft order for that change; it will be finalized after public comment closes.
The petition specifies places where groundwater is contaminated with heavy metals, including cadmium, copper, manganese, mercury and nickel. The map covers areas where groundwater crosses sections of the former copper mine that have since flooded, creating underground pools, and where that water is known to travel.
Drinking water contaminated with heavy metals can cause health liver, kidney and intestinal damage, anemia and cancer, according to the EPA.
In some places, the map crosses onto private property in Strafford and Tunbridge where the underground workings of the mine travel. The DEC has classified properties as “conditional” or “non-conditional.”
In the proposed “conditional” areas, any new wells that would supply water for drinking, agriculture, and industrial or commercial use will need approval from the secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources on a “case-by-case basis” and ensure they “will not further degrade groundwater quality or cause contamination to spread,” according to the document.
If the agency approves any wells, it will likely impose regular water-testing requirements, Lawrence said.
In the more severe “non-conditional” areas, using groundwater as a water supply will be prohibited, though some agricultural, industrial or commercial uses “may be considered” by the secretary.
There are 11 household wells in the proposed reclassification area, and they would be allowed to stay in use, Lawrence said. The state already tests several wells around the mine property to track contamination.
Two household wells are in the non-conditional area, but both are on land owned by the Elizabeth Mine Historic Preservation Trust and have been abandoned, Lawrence said.
Some residents are concerned about the impact the designation may have on property values and the ability to sell land.
Sherm Wilson, who owns land on Mine Road, presented his concerns to the Strafford Selectboard on behalf of property owners last week.
The biggest problem, Wilson said in a recording of the June 25 meeting, is the “stigma” that a non-potable designation will put on the land.
“It sounds really bad — who’s going to buy a property that has that designation?” Wilson asked at the meeting.
Wilson also said he was concerned that, in some cases, entire properties will be marked as non-potable when the mine passes only under small sections.
Though he has heard some concerns from residents about property values, Lawrence said, “the reclassification is not going to have the impact on property value. What’s having the effect on the property value is the fact that the Elizabeth Mine is there and there’s some residual contamination.”
Lawrence expects the designation will actually be “very beneficial” for property owners and potential buyers to understand where groundwater might be dangerous.
“The whole idea is to make sure that we’re protecting human health,” Lawrence said. “We’re making it known that there are still areas of contaminated water from the mining activities.”
As for the delineations, Lawrence said that, in some parts of the conditional area, the agency had to include entire properties that the mine passes under because there are no good maps of the underground network.
The proposal is open for public comment through Monday, July 6. Comments can be emailed to charlie.lawrence@vermont.gov or sent by mail to Vermont DEC, Waste Management Division, Attn: Charlie Lawrence, 1 National Life Drive – Davis 3, Montpelier VT 05260.
After the public comment period ends and the reclassification is completed, Lawrence said, the state will maintain and monitor the site “in perpetuity” to ensure that contamination does not spread.
Cleanups are being conducted at two other Upper Valley superfund sites that are former copper mines.
The Ely Mine cleanup in Vershire is scheduled for completion in 2028 and Phase 1 cleanup of the Pike Hill Mine in Corinth was completed in January. An EPA spokesperson did not provide an update on those sites before publication.
