MACTEC SPEARHEADING BROWNFIELD ASSESSMENT EFFORTS AT FORMER TANNERY

ALPHARETTA, GA, April 8, 2009 -- MACTEC has been retained by BD90, LLC to provide brownfield assessment and environmental engineering services at a 13-acre former industrial site in Asheville's River Arts District. The site was once the home of the largest tannery of its kind in the U.S., utilizing the bark of up to 10,000 acres of chestnut oak trees to produce nine million pounds of finished hides per year. Allen Kibler, President of MACTEC Engineering and Consulting, Inc., (www.mactec.com), made the announcement.

According to MACTEC Principal Engineer Matt Wallace, who is supervising the project, the site will eventually be a mixed-used development. MACTEC worked closely with Land-of-Sky Regional Council (www.landofsky.org) who provided funding through a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Brownfields Assessment Grant for the developer to help fund the project. Land-of-Sky Regional Council is a multi-county local government planning and development organization, serving Buncombe, Henderson, Madison and Transylvania Counties in western NC.

Wallace said MACTEC will also be coordinating with Land-of-Sky and provide 'as needed' assistance for an upcoming student architectural/design competition (registration deadline is by the end of August; winners announced spring 2010) for the brownfield site. The challenge for college/university students nationwide is to create an environmentally friendly, sustainable, mixed-use development design that also incorporates innovative building techniques, LEED certification and low-impact development methods. More details can be found at www.RecycleThisSite.org.

"The site has the potential for substantial economic redevelopment in a sustainable manner while building on the character of the River Arts District," said Wallace. "We look forward to continuing our project work and also interacting with a lot of talented students in the months to come."

MACTEC (www.mactec.com), based in Alpharetta, GA, is a leading infrastructure engineering firm focused on five strategic business lines: Industrial/Commercial, Transportation, Municipal, Energy, and Federal. With annual revenues over $490 million, MACTEC's 3,000-plus employees work from over 80 offices nationwide. MACTEC consistently ranks in the top 10% of Engineering News-Record's Top 500 Design Firms. North Carolina offices are located in Asheville, Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Research Triangle Park and Wilmington.

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