with a quick snip of a ribbon this super
industrial site in russell county is
officially open for business it's
turning out even better than i think
that our team imagined five years and
nearly five million dollars later what
used to be one of the largest coal
preparation plants in the country when
you start looking at it and you look at
some of the original pictures and you
think
can we really do this is now a
competitive draw for new business for an
area in dire need of an economic boost
this site it just has unlimited
potential i mean just as this department
worked on so far there could be hundreds
of jobs here
with some of the process prospects we've
talked to already i mean
several billion dollars worth of
investment that's possible here when
first awarded a virginia energy
abandoned mineland economic
revitalization grant in 2017
the russell county industrial
development authority and the developer
russell county reclamation saw a diamond
in the rough here at what is known now
as project reclaim
they knew a former coal preparation site
had to have access to rail significant
electricity and good roads it had the
bonus of a sufficient supply of natural
gas all things that could make the deal
when competing for new business
they also saw the challenges 32 acres of
coal waste had to be removed with the
nearby biodiverse clinch river the
environmental impact was as great as the
future economic impact
the silk pond is now the building pad
for future jobs
recreated here
25 acres
a very usable
industrial property
the county has already hosted
prospectors here the unique site is
turning heads and perhaps may encourage
more entrepreneurs to see a new
opportunity in the thousands of acres of
coal mine land in southwest virginia and
what we had here before which had no
opportunity
this is a huge benefit for the county
because we don't have a site like this
anywhere else