Atlantic Research Corporation [ARC] Site Redevelopment [May 2023]

A well-known site across Wellington Road from the KT Enterprises’ [KTE’s] corporate campus and nursery in Bristow, Virginia is the 420-acre parcel once occupied by the Atlantic Research Corporation.  The facility operated as a solid-fuel rocket propellant and rocket motor production plant from 1951 to 2005 and then became an EPA cleanup site.  The site is now a future home to data centers.  As part of the site reclamation and preparation for construction, an extensive system of storm water ponds has been created to reduce flooding on Wellington Road and prevent sediment from reaching a neighboring creek.  KTE is installing hundreds of large native trees and shrubs along with thousands of wetland herbaceous plants in and around each pond.  We are also tilling in a specific mixture of soil amendments to boost soil fertility to provide all this plant material the correct balance of nutrients and pH so they can thrive on this once-abandoned site.  Another interesting fact, this is the second-closest jobsite to our offices, only to be outdone by the substation and data center that shares a property line with us where we installed a buffer planting at last year and will be installing future plantings around the data center once complete.