July 17th, 2009 · No Comments

Photo: National Park Service | Mac Wyckoff

From Green Right Now Reports
(This story has been updated to add Wal-Mart comment.)

The Wal-Mart blow back has begun.

A day after the world’s largest retailer announced a plan to develop a worldwide sustainable product index, a Virginia group blasted the company for its plans to build a store on more than 50 acres of historic woodlands near the Civil War-era Wilderness Battlefield in Orange County, Va.

“Perhaps we should call this the Wal-Mart Paradox,” Jim Campi of the Civil War Preservation Trust, said in a statement. “On one hand, they are launching a big, splashy, public relations campaign touting how ‘green’ they want to be. Yet, on the other hand, they continue to move behind the scenes to destroy irreplaceable, historic land, which still retains its scenic beauty.”

Wal-mart wants to construct a 138,000-square-foot store in Locust Grove, less than a mile from the formal boundaries of the Wilderness battlefield. The plan has drawn opposition from environmentalists and public officials alike. Preservation groups have formed the Wilderness Battlefield Coalition to oppose the project, arguing that it is likely to produce a significant increase in traffic and subsequent development.

Wal-Mart points out that the store will be smaller than its normal SuperCenters, which are closer to 200,000 square feet. Of the 50-acre site, the company plans to leave 17 acres as a permanent conservation easement, and assures that the store will not be visible from any part of the battlefield.

The Wilderness Battlefield Coalition has proposed Wal-Mart build elsewhere in Orange County, at a location farther from the May 1864 battleground. The coalition has offered to fund a planning study to identify an alternative site away from Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park.

This week, Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine and the speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates William J. Howell also asked Wal-Mart and Orange County officials to find an alternative site for the proposed store. They noted that the battlefield “ranks supremely important” among the many Civil War battlefields in Virginia.

But Wal-Mart says the alternative sites were all considered and rejected on their merits.

“One of the alternative sites is less than a quarter of a mile away, so I don’t see how that’s any different,” said Keith Morris, Wal-Mart’s director of Public Affairs and Government Relations for the Northeast Region.

He points out that there “are almost 7,000 homes on the border” of the battlefield. “That’s who you’re trying to serve. Some of those people step right out of their homes onto the battlefield.”

Morris says “there hasn’t been any consensus” among the various opposition groups on another location. But he said Wal-Mart is continuing to have a dialogue with preservation and environmental groups.

The Battle of the Wilderness was fought in Orange County on May 5-6, 1864, with 29,000 Union and Confederate soldiers injured or killed. It also is noted as the first time that Generals Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee faced each other in battle.

The controversy is indicative of the challenges that Wal-Mart faces as it attempts to lead on sustainability on the one hand, and yet the scale of its stores and its expansion plans make it a frequent target of environmentalists and preservationists.

Rob Nieweg of the National Trust for Historic Preservation noted “the irony of Wal-Mart’s ‘green’ announcement is particularly acute when viewed against their plans to build on top of the Wilderness Civil War Battlefield, especially since Wal-Mart is ignoring viable alternatives that would allow them to build the store, create jobs and not harm the battlefield.”

Walmart’s proposal also has been denounced by some of the nation’s top historians, including Pulitzer Prize winners James McPherson and David McCullough, as well as documentarian Ken Burns. Others who have spoken out include Academy Award-winning actors Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Duvall, as well U.S. Congressmen Ted Poe (R-TX) and Peter Welch (D-VT).

Wal-Mart’s Morris emphasizes that the company has been working with and listening to local officials in choosing a site.

“We’re trying to follow their vison for growth in the area. This site has been endorsed by the chamber (of commerce) and the (local) newspaper. I don’t see how these outside groups or someone from Texas knows that.”