$542,000 For Firefighting And Hazmat Services

The bill for $542,000 for firefighting and hazmat services for The Saputo Cheese Company may the straw that broke the camel's back and finalized the decision for Saputo.

Vermont continues to be unfriendly to business and I think that 88 Farmers and 80 to 100 workers are suffering from Saputo's closing. I certainly don't know the whole story, but when I watched it on television the other night, the fire chief said that they apparently billed Saputo for the cost of all the equipment as if it was new. When asked what would happen if Saputo didn't pay the $542,000, he said they would submit it to their insurance company.

To me it would have been better to submit the bill to the Insurance Company first and bill Saputo for the extra to replace the equipment. The people of Hinesburg are also going to be hurting in other ways from the closing of Saputo as the company paid 50% of the costs for the Waste Treatment Plant.

Now, I may have this all wrong, and if so, feel free to correct me, but it would certainly appear that Vermont should try and do something to keep Saputo up and running in the small community of Hinesburg.

The Burlington Free Press has an article in today also that gives other opinions. They said that equipment manufacturers advised the departments who fought the fire to discard protective bunker suits, respirators, radios and other items exposed to high concentrations of the airborne contaminant. Anyhow, to give you several sides to the story, you can read The Free Press Article by clicking on the link below:

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20081024/NEWS02/810240309/1001/NEWS