Invasive bamboo-Like Plant May Move To Linden
Marengo County officials weigh pros, cons of proposed mill

By Johnny Kampis, Staff Writer

A proposed mill that could turn a bamboo-like plant to pulp might be an economic boon for Linden and Marengo County, but it also could wreak ecological havoc.

Global Cellulose Systems, a British company, wants to build a $530 million production facility in Linden’s industrial park that could employ as many as 500 workers.

The company also is seeking a commitment from area farmers to grow the bamboo-like crop on as many as 30,000 acres. The crop could prove very profitable for producers, but the plant has been identified as one of the most invasive of its kind on Earth.

Move over kudzu, welcome Arundo donax.

“It’s the worst invasive plant in much of the world," said Jim Miller, a research ecologist for the USDA Forest Service in Auburn. “That’s like the idea of planting kudzu, isn’t it?"

John Woods, president of Athens, Tenn.-based West Wing Technologies Inc., said the plant has been a problem in areas like Mexico and California where it commonly grows in the wild but not when grown in a controlled environment.

“It’s never been a problem in plantations," he said, adding that the plant hasn’t been grown on large acreage in the South before.

Woods’ company specializes in growing and cloning bamboo and similar plants. It would assist any Black Belt farmer who chooses to grow the crop.

Representatives from West Wing Technologies and Global Cellulose Systems will meet with area farmers at Linden Baptist Church on Thursday to discuss plans for the mill and the plant, seeking to get commitments for the growth of the crops.

Kevin Tucker, a Marengo County extension agent, said Tuesday that he doesn’t know enough about the plant or the company’s plans to comment on either.

Woods said it would take two years for the first crop to mature. But the reed could be harvested every six months thereafter, with a likely production of 17 to 26 tons per acre. That could mean several hundred dollars per acre for the farmers, he said.

Kevin Dixon, chairman of the Linden Area Industrial Development Board, said he doesn’t think getting a commitment from farmers will be an issue.

“If you show them the money, I think they’ll show you the land," he said.

Dixon said the industrial board heard of the company’s desire to build a mill in the American South and contacted its officials. The months-long conversation has Global Cellulose Systems ready to come to Marengo County.

The pulp that would be manufactured from the crop is used for a variety of products, from shirts to flooring and is sold mostly in Europe, Dixon said.

He said the location of the mill in Linden, where the industrial park is now vacant, and Linden Lumber, the No. 1 industrial employer despite heavy layoffs last year, would have a big impact on the area.

“If this happens, offering 300-500 jobs in Linden, Alabama, I think it would change the economic outlook of the town forever," he said. “It’s going to help our whole county."

But what would it do to the environment?

Officials from the Nature Conservancy say that Arundo donax can rapidly invade stream banks and roadside habitats from a few plants. After it’s established, the plant tends to outcompete and completely suppress native vegetation and has totally invaded irrigation ditches and reduced their water-carrying capacity.

Miller said it would be nearly impossible to keep some fragments of the plants from getting into drainage systems and spreading to surrounding areas, despite what Woods said.

“If it’s released in the landscape it will get in our streams," Miller said. “It will grow along them and change our habitat."

Miller, who recently chaired a conference on invasive plants in which the Arundo donax was one of the topics, said the plant would dry up streams and kill the habitat of a variety of wildlife species.

The plant already exists in Alabama, but only in limited quantities. It is native to the Mediterranean region, and large plantations of it have been grown in Italy and other countries.

Like kudzu, Arundo donax was imported into the United States, originally for aesthetic reasons or for windbreaks on California ranches.

Miller said bringing the plant in large quantities to Alabama could be like the second coming of kudzu. He said there needs to be policies to prevent importing invasive plant species like this.

“The way is to develop industry and bar everything else," he said. “That’s the way of capitalism. Regionally, the Black Belt needs something, but it doesn’t need this."

Reach Johnny Kampis at johnny.kampis@tuscaloosanews.com or at 722-0206.