BROWN
&ER&
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Deconstruction and Building Material
Reuse in Former Textile Mills
Sustainability Pilot Background
EPA's Brownfields Sustainability Pilots provide technical assistance to assist
communities in achieving greener, more sustainable results when redeveloping
brownfields. These pilots also provide models for other communities across
the country.
EPA provided the City of Valley, Alabama with technical assistance to create
an inventory tool to track materials that can be recycled or reused from the
deconstruction of the Langdale Mill. In addition to the inventory tool, the EPA
technical assistance provided two onsite field inventory evaluations which yielded
quantities and estimated values of deconstructed materials. The project provided
a sustainable solution to traditional demolition by recycling or reusing valuable
building materials inherent in abandoned mill structures in the area.
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Langdale Mill Background
The Langdale Mill operated in Valley from 1860 to the late 1990s as a textile manufacturing facility; it employed many
local residents. When the mill ceased operations, it left the community without a major economic engine. In addition,
the community faced the challenge of cleaning up and redeveloping the vacant property.
Beginning in 1999, the city held design charrettes to determine a suitable and sustainable reuse for the mill. In
response to the design charrettes, the city recognized the need to evaluate the environmental conditions of the site
and clean up any identified contamination. In 2007 and 2008, the City of Valley applied for and received an EPA
Brownfields Assessment grant and two EPA Brownfields Cleanup grants to address contamination issues at the
Langdale Mill and other mills along the Chattahoochee River. A Visioning Session held by the city and neighboring
"up-river" communities of Lannett, Alabama and Westpoint, Georgia resulted in plans to create a River Canoe Trail
that joins an historic Native American relic site with Langdale Mill.
Project Highlights
EPA's technical assistance to the City of Valley included the development of a recyclable and reusable material
inventory tool, an evaluation of the quality of building materials, and an estimate of the value of recovered materials.
These analyses provided the city with tools and information it could use to move forward with the deconstruction
and sustainable redevelopment of the Langdale Mill and address other mill redevelopment projects in the area. The
Langdale Mill inventory tool focused on five key materials:
• Lumber
• Metal for Scrap or Reuse
• Brick
• Concrete
• Other Items for Potential Reuse in the Proposed Redevelopment
The inventory demonstrated that an estimated 109,000 board feet of lumber, 290,000 pounds of metal, and 63,000
bricks could be recovered for recycling or reuse. In combination, these materials have an estimated value of
$150,000. In addition to estimating the costs, the technical assistance team provided alternate reuse scenarios for
the deconstructed materials. For example, the lumber, bricks, doors and concrete can be used in the redevelopment
of the site as well as to preserve the mill's rich industrial history.
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Challenges and Lessons Learned
Evaluating Current Market Demand for
Deconstruction Materials
Local salvage vendors assisted in estimating
costs and values, quantity conversion factors,
and units of recovered materials.
Securing Additional Funding and Offsetting
the Cost of Deconstruction
The City of Valley needs additional funding
to carry out the technical assistance team's
recommendations and is working with the
regional development group to identify additional
grant opportunities to fund deconstruction.
Selling and recycling recovered materials
could offset part of the funding needed for
deconstruction.
A view of Langdale Mill.
The city incorporated the recommendations of the technical assistance team into the redevelopment plan for the
site and is exploring other funding sources for its redevelopment efforts. The city initiated a Request for Proposal
process to identify a contractor to deconstruct and redevelop the site according to the specified redevelopment plan.
The redevelopment plan was developed, using both USDA Rural Development Funds and Appalachian Regional
Commission Funds, and includes a community conference center, office, art galleries, shops, and a community
garden. To date, six jobs were created in the office space of Langdale Mill.
Sources for Additional Information
For more information on this project, please see the full Langdale
inventory tool at:
http://epa.gov/brownfields/sustain_plts/reports/langdale.pdf
Regional Contact Information
1ill technical assistance report and deconstruction
For more information on the Langdale and Riverdale
Camilla Warren
EPA Region 4
404-562-8519
warren.camilla@epa.gov
project, please contact:
Deconstruction and Building
Material Reuse in Former
Textile Mills
EPA-560-F-09-514
October 2009
www.epa.gov/brownfields
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