Bristol and Reclaimed Resources officials said plans remain on course for the company to build a waste-to-energy plant at the former Raytheon missile-systems facility on Vance Tank Road, though neither provided specific details on when actual construction would begin.
“Any project that’s huge enough to be a $157 million investment doesn’t happen overnight or very often,” said Michael Sparks, Bristol’s deputy city manager.
“[Reclaimed Resources] has been investing considerable time, energy and money already on this project and doing due diligence,” Sparks said. “So we’re very comfortable that this project will keep moving forward, and be a tremendous benefit to Bristol.”
Reclaimed Resources President Ted Cox declined comment on the current status of his company’s waste-to-energy plant, designed for a nearly 100-acre site that once housed an American Phoenix Inc. manufacturing plant. But, in a statement released by the Bristol-based company, Reclaimed Resources spokeswoman Sarah Gillespie said the firm “is excited about the progress being made.”
“We realize there is a great deal of interest about where the project stands and when we will begin production,” Gillespie wrote. “We ask everyone to understand that the many facets and processes that make this project so unique take time to put together. What we are creating is cutting-edge – there is no cookie-cutter [method] for that and it can’t be rushed.”
While city and company officials have previously said an announcement would be made when construction has officially begun on the plant, neither Sparks nor the Reclaimed Resources’ statement provided an actual date .
Last fall, Reclaimed Resources announced plans to build the proposed $157 million plant, which the company said would take in area municipal waste and transform it, odor-free, into renewable energy by using state-of-the-art technology.
Reclaimed Resources said while it would need to do extensive site-preparation before construction would begin, it estimated that the plant would be fully operational 24 to 36 months after building started – and would eventually have 100 employees.
In tandem with Reclaimed Resources’ announcement in October, both Bristol and Sullivan County agreed to give the company some $4 million in various tax breaks over a five-to-seven-year period.
And, earlier this year, Tennessee’s Department of Transportation agreed to finance nearly $1 million in road improvements at the intersection of Vance Tank Road and Weaver Pike, in part to improve truck and vehicle access to the Reclaimed Resources plant.
Both city and county officials have suggested that the Reclaimed Resources’ project would bring numerous benefits to the area – from providing a better way to handle waste to breathing new life into a deteriorating property that’s been largely vacant for 10 years.
“Anything that can create 100 jobs in a growing, high-technology field is a good thing,” Sparks said.
“This project has the potential to bring quite a bit of notice to our community, and lead to future investment and interest by others.”
Gillespie echoed that view in Reclaimed Resources’ statement.
“We look forward to creating something Bristol can be proud of, and making our community a greener place to live,” she wrote.
rbrown@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2512
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