The Beginning: An Objective AP Story

Industrial park's first tenant expands plans, opponents vow to continue fight

By DYLAN T. LOVAN
Associated Press Writer

Officials at a Warren County industrial park opposed by environmentalists and residents for years say the park's first tenant will spend more than $200 million developing an auto-parts plant there.

But the activists say they're not giving up a fight that began more than five years ago, when the Kentucky Transpark was first proposed. Environmentalists have argued that the land meant for the transpark is unstable and that new industry could pollute nearby Mammoth Cave National Park.

Cosma International announced last week that it will add $80 million more in investments to a planned $132 million auto-parts plant at the transpark. The plant, which would build frames for the Ford Explorer, is the transpark's first tenant. The Cosma plant could employ up to 1,100 workers, state officials said.

Activists say transpark's progress isn't discouraging them.

"I think everybody is thoroughly exhausted here but not ready to give up. It's been six years," said John Blubaugh, a member of Karst Environmental Education and Protection. Among other actions, the group has appealed the rezoning of parcels of land acquired by the transpark.

The city-county planning commission of Warren County is scheduled to meet on Thursday to review Cosma's construction plan. Blubaugh said opponents of the park will attend the meeting.

Cosma, a subsidiary of Magna International, is a great asset to the park, transpark officials said.

"Anytime a company such as Magna - which is one of the largest automotive suppliers in the world - selects your community, it's a great boost for the area," said Jim Vance, president of the Intermodal Transportation Authority, which manages the Kentucky Transpark. Magna employs about 72,000 people worldwide.

Vance said the new 910,000-square foot plant could be up and running by midyear 2005.

Vance said he hopes the transpark will eventually grow to about 2,600 acres, adding an airport and railway access within 30 years. He declined to comment on other companies that may be considering locating there.

Roger Brucker, an esteemed caver and an expert on Mammoth and other caves in the area, said he worries that corporations moving into the park are building on a brittle foundation.

Brucker has said that the park site is located atop an underground landscape of caves, sinkholes and streams, called karst. The subterranean gaps make the waterways especially susceptible to pollutants that get in the ground.

Cosma "is moving into the most collapse-prone, flood-prone contamination-prone karst area in Kentucky. These are the warnings that (we) have been sounding for a long time," Brucker said. He has written a paper arguing that industrial pollutants from the transpark could pollute waterways in Mammoth Cave, its neighbor to the north.

"Every responsible scientist you're likely to talk with can say that this thing is going to produce more harm than good," Brucker said.

Vance said extensive environmental studies have been done on the area, and he argued that karst formations are safe to build on.

Aside from the Cosma announcement, the transpark got another big boost last month when Sen. Mitch McConnell secured $7.25 million in funding for the site, including $5.25 million to build access roads. The funding is included in the Omnibus Appropriations Conference Report.

Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved.