Radford Trading, LLC has submitted an application for a special use permit to open the old foundry (1701 West Main Street) as a metals recycling operation surprising and worrying the West End community.
The Radford foundry property was developed in the 1890s as an iron foundry, closing in 2013. The shutdown eliminated 234 hourly and 28 salaried jobs in a significant setback to Radford’s single-industry economy.
The EPA Brownfields Program approved then-owner Grede Holding’s environmental cleanup plan of the heavily contaminated riverside site in 2012. Radford Trading LLC purchased Grede Holdings in October 2015.
At last week’s council meeting, Mayor David Horton suggested that the company present their plans to the Feb 25 council meeting.
The permit request described “processing of electronics and other related materials, including…a copper wire chopping line facility and ferrous and nonferrous bulk scrap recycling.”
Metals recycling operations have been associated with water and environmental contamination, but reduce, it is argued, the need to mine ores.
In light of the request, business and community members expressed disappointment that there was no open discussion for the community to get other, maybe more profitable, options and wondered about future access to and health of the river.
Radford’s Economic Development office was not available for comment.
Before going to a public hearing, and to improve its understanding of the implications of the special use permit, the council requested that Radford Trading present more information at the Feb 25 meeting.
Details of the meeting and metal recycling are explored in the column “One man’s trash is another’s treasure” by Steve Frey on Page 4 in this paper.
