Commission Considering Recycling Site Near Airport

The Loudoun County Planning Commission is nearing a decision on whether to recommend a plan to build a large transfer station and recycling center northwest of Dulles International Airport to handle the county's construction debris.

The two facilities, which would be on 82 acres between Bears School Road and Route 606, would receive wood, concrete and carpet, among other materials.

Planning commissioner John H. Elgin said last week that he was impressed by the recycling plant proposed by Ace Waste. Company officials said the plant would process as much as 400 tons of waste a day and recycle 95 percent of that.

"If they can deliver on their promise, it would be a tremendous boon to the county," Elgin said, adding that the commission may decide tomorrow whether to forward the plan to the Board of Supervisors.

But some county staff members who have studied the proposal are skeptical about the company's claims and about supporters' arguments that the facilities are needed to keep up with growth and construction in Loudoun.

Monica Gorman, a compliance specialist with the Loudoun County Office of Solid Waste Management, said Loudoun already has two facilities, one in Sterling and one in Leesburg, that are transfer stations and permitted recycling centers. Each is operating at about 50 percent capacity, and the need for another facility isn't pressing, she said.

"We already have sufficient capacity to process the construction waste we're producing," Gorman said.

She cited the dirt and noise generated by waste facilities, as well as concerns about traffic. The recycling center would generate about 90 truck trips a day and the transfer station about 300 trips a day, with most of that traffic feeding into Route 606 and Route 50.

Gorman said Ace Waste's plan to recycle 95 percent of construction materials "isn't technically feasible. I think a more reasonable rate is 30 to 40 percent."

Ken Mogul, president of Ace Waste, said his projections were based on the results at recycling facilities the company has built in New York and Iowa. Materials recycled at the 65,000-square-foot Loudoun facility would be sold to construction companies or in some cases donated to groups such as Habitat for Humanity, Mogul said.

"Landfills are one of the largest contributors to global warming. By having materials that go back into productive use, a lot of these products can be used locally," he said.

Northern Virginia Assets LLC is seeking to build the 23,000-square-foot transfer station, where trucks would pick up nonrecyclable debris and transport it to landfills throughout the state.

Officials said the two facilities could be opened within a year of a vote by the Board of Supervisors to approve the plan.