The Valley Reporter - Sugarbush settles with EPA

A February 2007 inspection by the EPA discovered Sugarbush had not filed up-to-date Tier II forms as is required by the federal Emergency Planning and Community-Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). Tier II forms identify materials such as propane, diesel fuels and bleach, all of which are used in the operations of Sugarbush and are typically used at other resorts. The settlement reflects that these administrative errors have been corrected and that no environmental degradations have occurred.

"This is an example of the system working," said Sugarbush's Jason Lisai, vice president of planning and development.

"Sugarbush has a long and successful history of working closely with the state and federal environmental agencies to ensure that we meet or exceed Vermont's standards for protection of our environment. We have likewise taken a proactive approach to ensure the proper handling of hazardous materials. The EPA inspection revealed that we were not current with some of our paperwork and we worked closely with the EPA to rectify those document requirements."

"Sugarbush takes its commitment to the environment and preserving the beauty of The Valley very seriously. This full-scale inspection conducted by the EPA a year and a half ago was the first ever of its kind to be done at a ski resort, and we worked diligently with them to bring our document-filing system into compliance," said Sugarbush president Win Smith.

Since purchasing Sugarbush from the American Ski Company in 2001, Summit Ventures has been working with local, state and federal agencies to guarantee environmental compliance. The resort has spent close to $2 million to improve water quality of mountain streams through the implementation of state-of-the-art storm water management facilities. In addition to that initiative, Sugarbush recently converted all of its on-mountain diesel equipment to biodiesel and retrofitted snowmaking equipment with low-energy nozzles, which produce a higher quality snow for a third of the energy of traditional equipment.

{loadnavigation}