Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 17, 1991 TAG: 9104170379
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Long
The Franklin County Board of Supervisors voted to allow Shredded Products to set up its operation and landfill on part of a 436-acre farm off U.S. 220, a few miles south of Rocky Mount.
Shredded Products has been searching for a cost-effective way to dispose of fluff - made up of plastic, foam and other non-metal car parts - since a huge stockpile of the material caught fire at its Montvale plant and burned for more than a month in 1989.
Franklin County officials said Tuesday they are convinced that there is virtually no chance of a similar fire occurring, because workers will bury the fluff each day in a state-approved landfill.
"The potential for anything happening with this fluff just isn't there," said County Administrator Richard Huff II.
Franklin County officials were thrilled about their agreement with Shredded Products, which will add up to 30 jobs, generate tax revenue and, most importantly, open up acreage suitable for an industrial park.
Franklin County and Roanoke Electric Steel, the parent company of Shredded Products, will jointly market the remaining 300 acres of the farm to potential industries.
Huff said the property will allow the county to compete for large industries. Currently, the largest tract available in the Rocky Mount-Franklin County Industrial Park is 23 acres.
"We were taken out of the loop as far as industrial prospects coming through the Roanoke Valley," Huff said.
Known as Peaceful Valley Farm, the property is owned by the Sandy Meyer Center, a summer camp for abused children that went bankrupt last year. The rolling land has 2,000 feet of road frontage on U.S. 220.
The farm is in the Snow Creek district, which means the recycling operation and landfill will not be required to go through the zoning process and associated public hearings for approval.
Roanoke Electric Steel has an agreement to buy the property for $1.5 million, according to company president Donald G. Smith.
The company will build an 0.8-mile industrial access road to the Shredded Products site at the rear of the property, thereby opening the remaining tracts to development.
"Our intention is to fill this thing up as an industrial park," Huff said.
Shredded Products reclaims metals from junk vehicles. A giant machine shreds the cars into small chunks. The metal is drawn off to be reused at Roanoke Electric Steel. The remaining parts - such as rubber hoses, vinyl seats, dashboards and plastic foam - are compacted into 3,000-pound bails.
Each day, Shredded Products processes 300 to 400 cars and generates 100 to 120 tons of fluff.
William Warwick, assistant vice president for Roanoke Electric Steel, said the landfill would not accept any fluff from any other plant without the approval of the Franklin County Board of Supervisors.
Warwick estimated the 40-acre landfill would have a life span of 20 to 30 years.
The Montvale plant employs 25 people. Smith said the employees will be notified of the plant move this morning and offered the option of commuting to Franklin County.
Smith said Franklin County residents would be given first priority for any job openings when the operation moves to Rocky Mount. The company pays an hourly wage of $9.25.
"These are going to be good, healthy jobs for our community," Huff said.
Huff said other benefits from the plant include:
Help in meeting state-mandated goals that require the county to recycle at least 25 percent of its waste by 1995.
Tax revenue of $3 for every ton of fluff buried in the landfill.
An increase in the county's real estate, machinery and personal property tax base.
"I just cannot say enough good things that this will mean for Franklin County," Huff said.
The move also solves Shredded Products' disposal problem. "It makes us a viable corporation again," Warwick said.
In the late 1980s, Shredded Products could not find a nearby landfill to accept its fluff. Bedford County refused to accept the waste at its landfill.
The company began stockpiling fluff on a football field-size tract behind its Montvale plant. In October 1989, the pile caught fire and gave off foul-smelling smoke for 38 days.
The state Department of Waste Management later ruled that Roanoke Electric Steel could not stockpile fluff and ultimately fined the company $15,000. The company then began shipping the fluff - at great expense - to a private landfill in Pittsylvania County.
Last August, the Bedford County Board of Supervisors unanimously rejected Shredded Products' proposal to build a 40-acre landfill a few miles south of the city of Bedford.
At that time, Supervisor James A. Teass said he would rather see the fluff shipped out of Bedford County. "If it's too expensive to do that, they can remove their facilities from Montvale," Teass said.
Two months later, Shredded Products began discussions with Franklin County, which was free from political fallout from the fluff fire. "Their track record for being good corporate citizens is beyond reproach in the Roanoke Valley," Huff said.
The fluff fire was never mentioned during a joint county-company presentation, but Huff inadvertently alluded to it when he mentioned that future water service to the industrial park would improve "firefighting" capabilities.
Smith jokingly corrected Huff, suggesting that he might avoid talking about fires.
Choosing his words carefully, Huff then spoke about the possibility of "hydrants."
by CNB