Resource Recovery Parks

Case Studies

• Cabazon Resource Recovery Park
• Eco-Industrial Parks

Cabazon Resource Recovery Park

Recognizing the need for a well-conceived, environmentally sound industry to diversify their economy, the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians has set aside a 590-acre portion of their reservation for a resource recovery park.

The Cabazons have always lived in harmony with the land and innovatively built a future with few resources. Through their resourcefulness, they found ways to survive in the arid desert outside of Palm Springs, California. The Cabazon Resource Recovery Park is easily accessible from Interstate 10 via State Highway 111 in Mecca, California.

In the mid-1970s, the Cabazons developed an overall master plan for their tribal lands. The key to that plan is economic diversity, pursued through several enterprises. The tribe’s casino alone provides jobs for more than 500 people. Indirect or secondary spending by employees, vendors, and tourists triples the economic impact throughout the community.

Under the tribe’s plan for the Cabazon Resource Recovery Park, potential industries individually and collectively implement practical solutions to environmental and waste management problems of various types.

The following enterprises are currently operating:

• Colmac Energy, Inc. (a biomass-fueled power generation plant).
• First Nation Recovery Inc. (a crumb rubber manufacturer from old tires).

Proposed projects include the following:

• Metals reclamation.
• Biomass (tires, organics, plastics) gasification.
• Used oil refinery.
• Ethanol or methanol facility.
• Green and food waste composting.
• Metals recycling (e.g., copper, nickel wire).
• Construction & demolition recycling.
• Reclaimed glass.
• Plastics and rubber molding.
• Organic prawn farm.
• Soil blending and bagging.
• Paper de-inking.
• Steel production.
• Regional materials recovery facility.
• Other industries that recycle, reuse, or transform waste streams into useful commodities.
• Related light and heavy manufacturing and offices.

The Cabazons honor their ancestors and show their appreciation for their success by giving to charitable organizations and embracing environmental issues. They do everything within their power to leave the children of the world a legacy of knowledge, good health, and happiness.

Development Incentives

As an equity partner, the tribe has a direct interest in ensuring cost-effective development. Incentives for establishing and maintaining a business on the Cabazon Reservation include:

Streamlined permitting. The Cabazons’ Planning Department handles approvals, plan checks, building permits, zoning, and inspections. While the Cabazon tribe chooses to maintain high standards for environmental quality, a project proponent need not go through lengthy and costly approval processes typical in other areas.

A recently-approved U.S. Environmental Protection Agency programmatic environmental impact statement (EIS) included about 50 potential projects. Those named in the EIS would be good candidates to tackle first; larger or different projects would require a modification of the EIS. Regardless of the options chosen, the bulk of the environmental review will still have been completed.

Minimal limitations. The site is zoned for heavy industrial to light manufacturing. There are no height, setback, or other requirements limiting most construction. The site has no endangered species, special habitat zones, or wetlands. Rail access, electricity, natural gas, water, and telephone services are all in close proximity to the site.

Lower fees. Development fees on the Cabazon reservation are significantly less than in neighboring jurisdictions in the Coachella Valley.

Lower costs. Fees are kept at cost; there are no school fees, transportation mitigation fees, or other special measures involved. The tribe is not required to comply with the Subdivision Map Act. As a governmental purchaser, the tribe obtains favorable pricing from vendors.

Tax incentives. This project includes the following tax incentives:

• Tribes and tribal-owned corporations are not subject to federal income taxation on reservation land. A joint venture structured as a limited partnership or limited corporation could allocate the tribe’s share of tax deductions and credits to the venture.
• Goods and services such as fuel and telephone may be excluded from excise taxation if the tribe provides these goods and services to the venture.
• Through the Indian Government Tribal Tax Status Act, tribes can obtain tax-exempt financing and other tax-exempt obligations.
• The Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1993 outlines several tax advantages for businesses on Indian land. These benefits include accelerated depreciation schedules and incremental wage credits and insurance costs.
• Tribal ventures also may be exempt from State and local gross receipt taxes, license, consumption and use taxes, and conveyance taxes.
• Deductions and credits against State income tax may be available to joint ventures if they meet certain conditions.

Rural Empowerment Zone. The Cabazon Resource Recovery Park is also located in an area that was designated a "rural empowerment zone" in 1999. The Desert Communities Empowerment Zone is one of five federally-designated zones in the nation. The tribe will received an initial $2 million grant and an additional $2 million in 2000. Cabazon Second Vice Chairman Marc Benitez was recently named president of the Desert Alliance for Community Empowerment, a nonprofit board responsible for implementation of the strategic plan for the empowerment zone. Empowerment zone status provides additional tax breaks and incentives.

Colmac Energy--The Anchor

Colmac Energy is a 48-megawatt biomass-fueled power generation plant that provides power to Southern California Edison under a long-term contract. A critical anchor for the Cabazon Resource Recovery Park, the $148 million facility was the first resource recovery business to be built and in the park.

The facility uses 700 to 900 tons per day of biomass fuels. Colmac obtains wood, woody wastes, and agricultural residues from throughout Southern California. These wastes, combined with limited amounts of natural gas and petroleum coke, fuel the plant. This has provided one of the most stable markets for many municipal yard waste and wood waste recycling programs, particularly in the Inland Empire of San Bernardino and Riverside counties and the Coachella Valley.

Since opening in February 1992, Colmac has used an average of 275,000 tons each year of biomass and petroleum coke. Burning these fuels produces steam, which drives a turbine generator. The electricity generated supplies power to approximately 45,000 homes.

The plant is equipped with the latest pollution-control equipment and meets all California and EPA environmental standards. The plant uses water from either of two on-site wells, each approximately 800 feet in depth. Water consumption is about 600 gallons per minute, almost all of which is lost to cooling tower evaporation. No wastewater is discharged for disposal.

Large transfer trucks deliver material to the plant from throughout California. Deliveries average 40 trucks per day on a six-day-per-week basis (deliveries are not accepted on Sundays). The plant also receives 10 to 25 small truckloads of biomass per day from landscape contractors and small growers.

In 1999, deregulation of the electricity market in California threatened to close the Colmac plant. Southern California Edison has proposed to buy out the remainder of the 10-year agreement it has with Colmac. However, due to tremendous support from local governments and private industry throughout Southern California, Colmac is planning to remain open. In order to price its electricity rates more competitively, the plant will need to obtain its biomass fuel at no cost. Colmac will also be seeking tax credits to support its continued operations.

Colmac generates about 70 to 80 tons of non-hazardous wood ash per week. This ash could be used in road construction, in municipal wastewater plants, or as mine backfill and reclamation material. The ash could go into selected building materials or be used to convert sludge to fertilizer. The Cabazons are open to an entrepreneur pursuing one of those uses for this material.

First Nation Recovery Inc.

First Nation Recovery Inc. (First Nation) is a wholly owned $10 million venture of the Cabazons. Through state-of-the-art recycling processes, First Nation can turn millions of scrap tires a year into useful products. The facility has been shipping close to 1.5 million pounds of crumb rubber a month since it opened in June 1999.

First Nation has formed a strategic alliance with Momentum Technologies Inc., one of the nation’s leading materials-testing laboratories, to provide customer quality assurance. The sales and marketing department in Pinole, California, conducts all product sales for First Nation.

First Nation obtains its tires from permitted and licensed scrap tire haulers in Southern California. These companies collect tires from tire shops, public works departments, and other scrap tire generators and deliver them to First Nation in Mecca. First Nation does not handle individual tire delivery.

First Nation currently processes 6,000 pounds of tires per hour (270 car tires per hour or 250 small truck tires per hour), which equates to 48,000 pounds per eight-hour shift. First Nation currently runs one shift but will eventually run three full shifts. First Nation will be able to process 720,000 pounds per week-about 35 million pounds per year-once they are running three shifts. There are 10 full-time employees, including management staff, office personnel, and the plant crew.

The company’s largest contract to date was for 965,000 pounds of rubberized asphalt concrete (RAC) for a highway project in Arizona. Some of the high-quality environmentally beneficial products that First Nation produces are:

Crumb Rubber. High-quality crumb rubber, available in mesh sizes as fine as 40x. Compounders use crumb rubber in thousands of products, from floor mats to athletic mats, asphalt sealant, and dock bumpers. They produce both plastic products and rubber products.

EcoPave TP. This is an enhanced formula of fine mesh crumb rubber for the rubberized asphalt industry. With superior blending properties, EcoPave TP meets the Federal Highway Administration’s SUPERPAVE standards and results in a more durable road surface.EnviroTurf. This product has a cushion-like feel and is perfect for playground and landscape cover. It is nonabrasive and nontoxic, has an ultraviolet ray-protective surface , and is treated with antifungicide and antibacterial agents. It comes in colors and is easy to install and maintain.

EnviroTurf EQ. This product is used for year-round, multiuse equestrian arenas. It reduces horse fatigue and injury and drains quickly, but it holds enough moisture to reduce dust. It won’t freeze or trench out, and it helps cut surface glare and requires minimum maintenance.

Five months after its June 1999 opening, First Nation was honored with a Project Achievement Award from the Association of Environmental Professionals.

Eco-Industrial Parks

RR parks evolved from eco-industrial parks (eco-parks), a major development in the U.S. and around the world. Eco-parks focus on environmental management issues and stress the synergistic use of wastes from one company as resources for another in the park.

Eco-parks are one of the major initiatives of the President’s Council on Sustainable Development (PCSD), Eco-Efficiency Task Force. The PCSD funded planning efforts at four sites (Baltimore, Md.; Brownsville, Tex; Chattanooga, Tenn.; and Port Charles, Va.) to speed the implementation of the concept in the United States. Localities are in varying stages of planning and implementation.

In its landmark 1996 report, Sustainable America: A New Consensus for Prosperity, Opportunity, and a Healthy Environment, the PCSD recommended that "Federal and state agencies assist communities that want to create eco-industrial parks...[as] models of industrial efficiency, cooperation, and environmental responsibility."

PCSD defined an eco-park as a group of businesses that work together and with the community to efficiently share resources (materials, water, energy, infrastructure, natural habitat, and information), enhance economic prosperity, and improve the environment.

A community, a local government, a nonprofit organization, or a business can initiate eco-parks, but their success often depends on broad support and collaboration.

In its 1997 report, The Road to Sustainable Development: A Snapshot of Activities in the United States, the PCSD highlighted three general models of eco-parks:

• Zero-emissions eco-park, in which a group of businesses are colocated and work together to reduce or eliminate emissions and wastes.
• Virtual eco-park, in which businesses are geographically separate but work together to minimize their impact on the environment.
• Eco-development, in which nonindustrial establishments apply the principles of industrial ecology.

Industrial ecology is the study of a closed loop in which resources and energy flow into production processes. Excess materials go back into the loop so that little or no waste is generated. Consumer products flow back into production loops through recycling to recover resources. Ideally, the loops are closed within a factory or among industries in a region.

This newly evolving area of economic development is beginning to be tested in practice. It has potential to link economic development, environmental protection, and social equity in communities throughout the United States.

Examples of Eco-Parks

The following examples of eco-parks are based on summaries provided in the PCSD 1997 Report, The Road to Sustainable Development: A Snapshot of Activities in the United States.

Northampton County, Virginia. An example of the first type of eco-park is the Port of Cape Charles Sustainable Technologies Industrial Park, located in Eastville, Northampton County, Virginia. Cape Charles is in the Chesapeake Bay coastal region. The area serves as a critical flyway for migrating birds, with some of the highest bird counts on the whole eastern shore. In addition to its natural features, the area has a rich cultural and historic heritage, characterized by Native American archeological sites and historic homes.

The community, as part of a comprehensive Sustainable Development Action Strategy, is designing the Port of Cape Charles eco-park. If successful, the facility will create local jobs and provide protection for the area’s natural and cultural resources.

The eco-park will provide for water recycling among the resident companies by means of a used-water collection system, a water recovery facility, and a recycled-water distribution system. In addition, a technical panel will analyze and determine whether other companies within the park can use the by-products of existing and proposed companies.

Construction on the eco-park began in October 1996, with funding from local, regional, State, and federal sources. The first tenant will be Solar Building Systems Inc. The Northampton County Department of Sustainable Economic Development/Joint Industrial Development Authority is managing the project. Initial efforts have focused on recruiting compatible companies and on developing effective management for the park as an industrial ecosystem. The local community is enthusiastic and committed to the project, and it will be a key to the park’s future success.

Brownsville, Texas. An example of the second type of eco-park (a "virtual" eco-park) is a project in Brownsville, Texas. Brownsville is located on the southern tip of Texas in the Rio Grande Valley and is often referred to as a city "on the border, by the sea." It has a rich natural environment and is considered to be one of the three top bird-watching sites in the United States. At the same time, the city has some of the most serious environmental problems in the northern hemisphere and is struggling to address its high poverty and unemployment rates.

Local and state government officials have been the primary drivers behind the development of an eco-park in this border region. Clearly if the region’s industrial growth is to continue, the nature of that development must change to protect both human health and the environment.

As a virtual eco-park, the Brownsville project takes a regional approach to exchanging waste materials and by-products. This approach is sometimes referred to as regional "industrial symbiosis." The project could eventually include a group of businesses that are geographically located together, but colocation is not the driving force behind the project at this time. As currently envisioned, the project will include not only industrial facilities but also small businesses and the agricultural sector.

Planning for the Brownsville project has focused on identifying firms that could benefit from participating in regional industrial symbiosis. Project planners have developed a database of companies in Brownsville and in the neighboring city of Matamoros, Mexico. They are analyzing it to identify potential materials exchanges among these industries and/or new companies.

The Texas Department of Commerce and the Brownsville community have provided initial funding, and project leaders are working to secure long-term support. State officials will be working closely with project leaders to ensure that permitting procedures do not become a barrier to development.

After adding cost-based data to the database, project planners will develop a marketing plan to evaluate and recruit participants. They plan to educate and involve the local residents in implementing the project. The project holds great promise for improving the lives of the people of Brownsville.

Burlington, Vermont. An example of the third type of eco-park (eco-development) is the Riverside Eco-Park in Burlington, Vermont. This project will create an agricultural-industrial park in an urban setting that will:

1. Generate electricity using biomass technologies that use readily available resources (e.g., wood chips).
2. Use the waste heat generated by the power plant to support the greenhouse production of fish and horticultural products.
3. Use biologically-based “living systems” to digest liquid organic wastes (which are common in the food processing industry) to purify water and create high strength fertilizers.
4. Recycle and compost the area’s waste foodstuffs and yard debris to replenish local soils, increase agricultural production, and support value-added organic food industries. All of these emerging technologies are being developed with the ultimate goal of transferring them to other industries and communities.

This project is expected to have several positive results, including reducing the waste heat that is released into the air and water, improving soil conditions and water quality, and creating sustainable jobs for the local people. A feasibility study that examined the inputs, outflows, and costs of the biomass energy systems and the living systems led to the conclusion that combining the two systems could be economically and environmentally beneficial. The next steps will be to prepare engineering and cost analyses of the linked systems.

A Community Development Block Grant, the Burlington Electric Department, the Department of Public Works, and Cornell University are providing support. Project leaders have applied to the U.S. EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy for funding.

The leaders have also recruited a number of organizations and companies to participate in the first demonstration project. They plan to bring in additional partners as the strengths and weaknesses of the project become evident. Project leaders have developed an aggressive five-year plan. They expect to transfer this eco-development model to other sites and to the development of commercially viable spinoff industries.

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Last updated: October 26, 2007