Washington County landowners say auto plant won’t locate in county

Posted by Virginia Real Estate

July 26, 2007

Some of the landowners whose property is being eyed for a Magna automotive plant near the Washington-Smyth county line say they believe the deal is dead.

“I have talked to a member of the Board of Supervisors in Smyth County, and he tells me that it’s not a done deal … but it’s not very likely” to locate in Southwest Virginia, B.B. Huff Jr. said Tuesday. “They are afraid of the mud.”

The company that’s been core-drilling soil samples on his and neighbors’ property found pockets of mud in the clay soil, he said, making the ground too unstable for heavy machinery.

“I just think the deal is off,” said Huff, whose property also would be part the project.

Washington County Administrator Mark Reeter would not comment on the mud or the negotiations with the Canadian-based company.

No announcements have been made, and no land has changed hands from the owners to the Smyth-Washington Regional Industrial Facilities Authority, which has an option to buy on several parcels of land near Exit 32.

BY Debra McCown, Bristol Herald Courier

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