Emily Patrick

epatrick@citizen-times.com

Construction on a 92-acre sports complex in Enka will begin in the coming weeks now that developers have finalized a crucial environmental agreement with the state.

The complex will be Buncombe County's first facility for regional baseball and softball tournaments, and it is part of a plan to develop 375 acres near the intersection of U.S. 19/23 and Sand Hill Road. The project is slated to include 60 acres for retail businesses.

The brownfields agreement announced this week means the sports complex will include enough fields to attract significant tournaments, said Martin Lewis, of Enka Partners, which is developing the complex.

“We’re off and running," Lewis said. “We have done all the landscape architecture, all the design. The next step is to turn everything over to an engineer ... You will see action as soon as we can get a permit.”

A former landfill started by American Enka Corp. in 1929 lies beneath 41 of the 92 acres, and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality designates this potentially contaminated area as a brownfield.

To use the property, developers had to enter into an agreement with the state that requires a soil cover over of at least two feet over any waste, monitoring of the landfill and groundwater, and additional air and water quality testing.

"The latest environmental monitoring data has shown no evidence of any metals in surface water exceeding state standards," the Department of Environmental Quality said in a statement. "As a safety measure, Enka Partners is required in the agreement to conduct ongoing tests of surface water and alert the state if any changes arise."

The latest test results date from 2015, said Michael Scott, acting director of the division of waste management. The state is concerned about heavy metals such as chromium, cobalt, sulfate and vanadium, as well as methane gas.

But local environmental groups said the state's testing is not sufficient. It overlooked heavy metals frequently associated with coal ash, one of the landfill contaminants, said Hartwell Carson, a riverkeeper at environmental protection and preservation nonprofit Mountain True.

“They haven’t done their due diligence to really show that the area is safe," he said. "What we’re asking is they do a more rigorous followup."

Carson said his group sampled tributaries running through the property and found concerning levels of boron and lead.

“They need to do a lot more sampling in a shorter amount of time to show that it’s safe or not safe," he said. “We’re not even saying slow the project down necessarily. We’re just saying do some more work on the front end, and that could be done in the next few months if they really commit to doing that."

He said he hopes to meet with Enka Partners soon to talk about increased testing options and relevant testing sites.

As part of the brownfield agreement, Enka Partners will continue to work with the state as planning proceeds. Plans must be approved by an engineer and environmental specialists with the state brownfields program.

A public comment period and a public meeting preceded the brownfield agreement. The state added more surface water monitoring procedures as a result, Scott said.

He said the brownfields program has approved this type of land for recreation before.

“We have another similar site, the Flemington Landfill, in New Hanover County, that is a series of soccer fields … that was built on top of an old landfill," he said. "There are some maintenance areas where they make sure they have a level cap that drains water appropriately, (but) they’re really excited about having that area and the numerous fields that are now placed on top of that landfill."

Buncombe County is home to about 20 developed brownfields, including New Belgium Brewing, Highland Business Park and the former Deal Motors site, now anchored by Harris Teeter.

To commemorate the brownfield agreement, Donald van der Vaart, secretary of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, will tour the Enka Center site Thursday morning.

"He’s excited that they were able to sign the agreement and that it’s going to boost Asheville’s economy," said Dorothy Davis, spokesperson for van der Vaart's office.

Next year, play ball

Lewis said the sports complex will be complete by mid-spring or summer 2017. In addition to fields, it will include greenways, concessions and parking.

Three of the seven ballfields will sit atop the brownfields.

When the construction is done, Enka Partners and landowner Fletcher Partners will give the property to Enka Youth Sports Organization.

JD Hinson, who has been coaching for 46 years, will serve as director of operations for Enka Youth Sports Organization. He said the number of people involved with youth sports tournaments will boost the economy.

“It’s good for everybody that has filling stations, motels, grocery stores," he said. "It makes a dramatic explosion for the income of the community."

In its early days, the facility would host tournaments with about 20 teams. Each team brings 12 to 15 players, so that's 240 to 300 players. Add in coaches, parents, grandparents and friends, and that number grows toward 1,000 people on a single weekend, Hinson said.

In 2014, the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce estimated the sports complex would generate an economic impact of $4 million in its first year, $6 million in its second year and nearly $6.7 million in its third year. Those figures are based on an economic impact of about $334,000 per tournament, assuming a family spends roughly $375 a weekend.

However, the chamber numbers correspond to a larger event than Hinson discussed. Its numbers are based on attendance of nearly 900 families per tournament.

Hinson said the events will start out small since the fields won't have lights when they open, but he said those improvements could come as the facility gains a reputation with regional youth sports organizations.

The ballfields project will cost $5.4 million and will be funded through private donations, a $2 million grant from the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority and $1.3 million from Buncombe County.

Hot corner: more development to come

The sports complex is just one phase of an initiative that began in 2008 to create new development on 375 acres near the intersection of Sand Hill Road and US 19/23. Enka Partners, Fletcher Partners and Enka Water Control Corp. own the land.

Current tenants include Wicked Weed and New Belgium distribution centers, Jacob Holm and Electric Supply.

A forthcoming retail development will include a major anchor tenant and several smaller stores. The 60-acre retail site to the west of the planned ballfields is about the size of The Asheville Outlets in terms of land area.

“We are still looking to secure our main anchor, but we hope to have some announcements in the near future," Lewis said.

The historic clock tower built by American Enka will remain as the development's centerpiece, Lewis said.

In preparation for the retail buildout, Enka Partners is building a five-lane bridge that connects the development to US 23/70. The intersection will include a traffic light.

When complete, the site will also include restaurants, spaces for businesses, offices or medical tenants, a bank and some warehouses, according to City of Asheville documents.

Because about half the site is within the city limits, the project required City Council approval, which it received in 2010. However, because of the estimated 14-year timeline, the Technical Review Committee will approve each phase of the project, and any major deviations from the 2010 will go back to City Council.

Understanding the Enka Center brownfields

The baseball field developers, Enka Partners, and the Department of Environmental Quality settled on a brownfield agreement last week. After a public comment period and meeting, the state added more stringent monitoring requirements to the agreement than it had previously proposed.

“The specifics that were included in expanding the storm water monitoring would include additional sampling locations and additional analyticals, meaning we’re going to expand the testing methods that are used," said Michael Scott, acting director of the division of waste management.

The additional testing requirements were added in response to requests from community members, he explained.

Environmental nonprofit Mountain True is calling for more frequent testing for a wider array of contaminants. Riverkeeper Hartwell Carson said children could be playing baseball in the fields by the time the sampling data set is large enough to be used accurately in scientific analysis.

So what exactly are the risks associated with the brownfield?

To understand what's at stake, you need to understand exposure paths, Scott said. At the Enka site, exposure to heavy metals buried in the landfill could come through consumption of groundwater, exposure through water, gas emissions and exposure through the soil.

The brownfield agreement forbids wells on the property, eliminating consumption of groundwater exposure path.

People could be exposed to water in nearby waterways, such as Hominy Creek. That's why Enka Partners and BASF Corporation, the last operator of the landfill, are required to test the surface water.

Carson said this type of exposure is particularly concerning to him since he knows children are drawn to creeks.

Methane gas emissions could have harmful effects, so methane monitoring is also required.

A soil cap of two-to-eight feet, depending on location, will manage the risk of exposure through soil.

The brownfield program is about creating a future for vacant industrial property, Scott said.

"It was important to address sites like this one where previous environmental contamination or the perceived risk of environmental contamination has inhibited development or use," he said. “That agreement I truly believe addresses a lot of concerns that were raised during the public process."

Carson cautioned against letting enthusiasm for the project override a scientific consideration of potential health hazards.

It’s a contaminated area, and we’re going to make it into this great complex for families and kids. That sounds great," he said. "We just want to make sure it’s safe when they do it.”