THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 8, 1994 TAG: 9407080594
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: HAYMARKET, VA. LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
Walt Disney Co. pledged high technology solutions Thursday to limit air pollution from its proposed theme park in northern Virginia.
Disney said it will employ many of the methods developed to meet tough air quality standards in southern California, home of the entertainment company's first theme park, Disneyland.
Northern Virginia is under federal order to reduce air pollution. Disney hopes to open Disney's America near Haymarket in 1998, when federal standards for the area will be tougher than they are now.
``The Disney's America air quality program is a natural extension of the Walt Disney Co.'s longstanding commitment to environmental stewardship,'' said Disney's America Director of Development Dana Nottingham.
Disney plans a clean vehicle program, including a ban on smog-producing diesel vehicles in its operating fleet. Disney's America will use vehicles powered by alternative fuels such as natural gas and electricity within the park boundaries, Nottingham said.
Park attractions will be powered with electricity, thus avoiding smog associated with diesel engines, Disney said.
The company plans to use what it calls zero emission vehicles, energy efficient building designs and computer-controlled air conditioning and lighting.
The $650 million park would feature an American history theme.
The Disney project is opposed by some local residents and historians who say it will bring undesirable development and heavy traffic to a largely unspoiled and historically significant region.
``The real air quality issue relating to the Disney development near Haymarket is auto emissions, not golf carts,'' said Sandy Hillyer, spokesman for Citizens Against Gridlock, one of the Disney opponents.
Disney would add as many as 300,000 vehicle trips daily to the roads around the park, Hillyer said. Disney calculates its park would generate about 77,000 vehicle trips. Vehicle trips measure the number of cars traveling to and from a destination.
Disney also said it hopes to employ so-called ``green lights,'' efficient lighting technology approved by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Green lights would be used where possible for offstage lighting, Disney said.
Disney also will not use chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, which destroy the beneficial ozone layer around the earth, the company said. Federal law is already phasing out the production of CFCs. by CNB