Manassas, VA -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/10/2014 -- The Fairfax County Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of Envirosolution’s Green Energy Park on the site of its construction debris landfill in Lorton Virginia. The Green Energy Park proposal was filed with the county in April 2013. Prior to the Planning Commission meeting, ESI had amended its proposal to significantly lower the previously approved height of the landfill and reduce the requested term of the extension by 27%. “The vote last night on the amended application is an important step forward for this transformational opportunity for renewable energy in Fairfax County,” said Conrad Mehan of ESI. “The Commission’s vote validates the County’s staff’s January recommendation for approval and makes it clear that the Green Energy Park supports a range of the County’s environmental and economic objectives in a manner that is consistent with its land use plans.”

In the recommendation to the Board of Supervisors for approval of the Green Energy Park the Planning Commission removed a condition in which ESI had agreed to a community request to enter into a covenant to provide greater certainty on the 2034 closure date due to concerns about whether such a condition is permitted under state law. The Commission’s recommendation also highlighted a number of items it suggested the Board of Supervisors consider in reviewing the application. Citing concern about the impact of wind turbines on birds, the Commission recommended that the Board consider replacing the wind turbines in the first phase of the Green Energy Park with alternative green energy facilities of equivalent output. The wind turbines in the later phase of the project remain in the proposal.

ESI‘s Green Energy Park would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 3.6 million tons over the life of the project and includes a renewable energy education feature for the public. The facility would satisfy the County's long-term disposal and recycling capacity needs for redevelopment and revitalization in Fairfax County and would create an incubator for renewable energy jobs and technologies in Fairfax County.