Heather Bell
RADFORD – A public hearing to gain citizen comment about a possible copper wire, metal and electronics recycling plant at the site of the former Radford foundry brought several citizens out to Monday’s Radford City Council meeting to speak their minds.
Radford Trading, LLC has asked for a special-use permit to operate a recycling operation at the site. The company purchased a portion of the property, located on West Main Street, in 2015 and currently operates recycling operations similar to the one they have proposed in Radford in Chilhowie, VA and in Princeton, WV.
Tommy Bishop, owner of Radford Trading LLC was in attendance at Monday’s meeting to give a presentation about his proposed business and to answer questions from the citizens on hand.
Bishop responded to questions about air quality, potential traffic noise and disruption and said he thinks his proposed use would have minimal negative impact on the Radford community, and the possibility of many positive impacts through tax revenue, utility use and job creation.
“We see great potential in this property,” said Bishop. “We feel our proposed use is consistent with, fits with, the city’s comprehensive plan. This site has been used for metal processing and recycling since the 1890s.”
Bishop explained that the former foundry building he and his company are proposing to use for the recycling operation is so large, “four-to-five acres under roof,” that the entire operation will effectively be indoors, thus reducing eyesore and air quality impacts for the surrounding area. His other operations do not have that luxury, he added.
Radford attorney Kendall Clay presented council members with information and several photographs of Bishop’s Chilhowie operation, showing piles of rusted metals and other detritus outside.
“Is this what we want Radford to look like?” he said.
Clay’s sentiments were echoed by long-time Radford resident Dr. Robert Whisonant, who said he too has seen the Chilhowie site and agrees it is an eyesore.
Bishop said the areas Clay showed are not visible from the road and added he stands by the “curb appeal” of his Chilhowie site. Also, he said, the Radford site would hold most if not all of the materials inside, has a wide setback from West Main Street and a hill slope on the back of the property that shields the view of the site from the river.”
Another Radford resident, Christine Mitchell, said she is concerned about air quality at the site. Bishop countered that interior, “state-of-the-art” HEPA filtration systems would minimize negative air quality impacts for both workers inside and the community outside its walls.
“We are subject to approval by the DEQ (Department of Environmental Quality), which is, in effect, a environmental impact study,” he said. “There are a lot of regulations we have to follow. This is a modern, state-of-the-art process.”
Bishop said Monday that the company hopes to eventually make a $5 million investment in the property.
He also said the initial operation would allow his company to raise the revenue needed to work on the rest of the property
“The site needs a lot of work,” he said. “By utilizing part of the property for this, it will allow us to raise revenue to work on the rest of the property.”
Bishop said the initial operation would employ 8-12 people. He said it would begin operation in six to nine months after the SUP, if approved, goes into effect. The recycling operation would not be located in the area the Department of Environmental Quality and Environmental Protection Agency has flagged for corrective action based on high levels of heavy metals found in the soil from more than a century of foundry operation.
Bishop said most of the corrective action indicated for that portion of the property is a “do not disturb” directive, which means no development will take place on that portion.
The Radford Planning Commission unanimously approved the special use permit request following its own public hearing in February. Radford Mayor David Horton said city council will take action in two weeks, at its next regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, Mar. 25 at 7 p. m.
