Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 6, 1995 TAG: 9503060083
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLUE RIDGE LENGTH: Long
Art Pendleton, a Republican candidate for the Blue Ridge super-visor's seat, was unceremoniously booted off the governing board of Blue Ridge Concerned Citizens last week after expressing support for the plant.
"I was figuratively tarred and feathered at that meeting," Pendleton said. "This was supposed to be a fact-finding meeting. The first woman that spoke said, 'Let's get a picket organized.'"
Pendleton said he was urging the citizens' group to work with Branch Highways Inc., the owners of the proposed plant, to see if they could reach an agreement on how to make it acceptable.
Pendleton said Branch has agreed to clean up the site, which once housed Weblite Corp., a block-manufacturing company that ran afoul of state air-pollution regulations. Branch has said the emissions from the proposed plant would be 20 percent of the minimum emissions allowed by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
The citizens' group said it will picket Branch Highways Inc. on Tuesday if it doesn't reconsider placing the plant off Virginia 738 on the Weblite site. The Blue Ridge site is the second selected by the company. Earlier efforts to locate the plant in Cloverdale met resistance from county officials who said it was incompatible with surrounding land uses.
The Blue Ridge site is zoned for manufacturing that would allow the asphalt plant to be located there. The Concerned Citizens group is not about to let that stand in the way of getting the plant located elsewhere.
"This type of plant smells real bad," said Steve Rossi, an engineer who is serving as spokesman for the group. "It is not a good thing to have this around a newly developed residential area."
Rossi said county zoning has not kept pace with the changing character of the area.
"Our position is that the county is not taking into consideration all that should be taken into consideration," Rossi said.
County officials said their considerations don't stop with zoning.
Branch Highways will have to submit to the county an acceptable site plan, which will have to meet setback requirements, provide a storm water retention area and adhere to the county's sediment and erosion-control requirements.
Beyond that, the county has very little control, although it has urged the Virginia Department of Transportation to evaluate an entrance road to make sure it meets state standards. The county has also contacted the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and asked that it review the plant's emissions to make sure the quality of air and water is protected.
Branch Highways, contacted through a spokeswoman, said it would have no comment on its plans.
Rossi said Concerned Citizens is seeking legal counsel to determine the best way to stop the plant, which the group says will produce about 200 loads of asphalt each day.
Rossi said that would mean 200 large trucks inundating a small, curvy, country road, which is traveled by school buses and other residential traffic. Colonial Elementary School - the county's largest elementary school - would be located near the plant as would Blue Ridge Park, a year-old facility which is home to recreational baseball, softball and soccer games.
Rossi said the byproducts of the asphalt manufacturing process have not been sufficiently explored. The Concerned Citizens group plans to have its own research done on potential pollution to the air and water.
The proposed plant will be bounded on one site by railroad tracks and Glade Creek on the other.
Pendleton, who has announced his intention to challenge Democratic incumbent Supervisor Wendy Wingo in November, said those concerns should be addressed. He said he was simply urging the citizens group to take "a middle of the road" approach in seeking Branch's help in addressing the problems. The county's comprehensive plan - a blueprint for development - allocates the site for manufacturing.
Pendleton said Branch plans to reroute truck traffic onto an alternate entrance, which is flatter and safer than the existing site. The company also plans to shuttle trucks onto and off of Virginia 738 using only its intersection with U.S. 460 closest to Roanoke. That way, increased truck traffic would not go near the elementary school.
Branch has agreed to clean up the site, which some residents say has buried diesel tanks that could contaminate adjacent groundwater. The site, which still contains mounds of dingy dust and debris from the Weblite days, may contain other hazardous materials that could make cleanup even more expensive, Pendleton said.
"Here's an opportunity to get it cleaned up," said Pendleton, a vice-president with Roanoke Gas Co.
Pendleton said he had also hoped that the citizens would work with Branch in an attempt to get the entrance roads upgraded.
He said the lack of a second asphalt plant in the county may exclude Branch from bidding on key highways projects. Adams Construction Co. currently has an asphalt plant in Botetourt County within 21/2 miles of the proposed Branch plant.
Without competitive bids, the county could see the cost of its highway projects skyrocket, Pendleton argues.
Beyond the environmental issues, the asphalt plant could cause a rift between Republican candidates looking to unseat Democratic incumbents in November.
Joel Branscom, the likely Republican candidate for Commonwealth's attorney, is a member of the citizens' group and opposes the placement of the asphalt plant on the Weblite site.
"In this case, this is just a bad spot," Branscom said. "There has to be a better place in Botetourt County."
The citizens' group worries that Pendleton may support business at any cost.
"Mr. Pendleton acted like a spokesman for the company," Rossi said. "He said there's nothing we could do, so we might as well be quiet and let it happen."
by CNB