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EPA Adds Ely Mine in Vershire, Vt. to Superfund List

Release Date: 09/17/2001
Contact Information: Andrew Spejewski, EPA Press Office (617-918-1014)

BOSTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced it has added the Ely Mine property in Vershire, Vermont to the EPA's National Priorities List (known as the "Superfund List"). The National Priorities List is EPA's list of the country's most serious uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites identified for possible long-term cleanup.

Adding a site to the Superfund List ensures that EPA will oversee and manage cleanup of the site, and makes federal funds available when private financing is unavailable.

"With the Ely Mine now on the Superfund List, we'll be able to put federal resources to work on the cleanup, and better coordinate it with the Elizabeth Mine cleanup," said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator for EPA's New England office. "This listing is the result of a strong support from the state of Vermont and the local community."

The Ely Copper Mine is an abandoned copper mine off Beanville Road in Vershire, Vt. About 300 acres of the 1,800 acre property were used for mining, resulting in approximately 100,000 tons of tailings and slag on the property. Rainwater leaches acid and toxic metals from the tailings, contaminating the Ely Brook, which drains to the Ompompanoosuc River.

EPA proposed listing the Ely Mine in June, 2001. Thursday's action finalizes the listing.

Two other sites in New England were also proposed to the NPL: the Callahan Mine in Brooksville, Maine and the Hatheway and Patterson site in Mansfield, Mass.