Phytoremediation has been used by the U.S. military and other organizations, including DaimlerChrysler, but often on inactive sites. This is the first time it has been used at an active automotive location of this size, O'Brien said.
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| The U.S. Green Building Council has awarded the Rouge Visitors Center with its gold award. (Photo: Ford Motor Company) |
Early efforts have paid off, according to O'Brien. During the summer, there were at least four killdeer bird nests on the roof of the yet to be completed factory, and ducks and other wild life.
"It's been remarkable to watch nature respond as we've done work on the site," he added.
To pollinate all of the new plantings around the factory complex, Ford employees placed three beehives, with more than 20,000 honeybees, just south of the truck plant.
Another feather in Ford's environmental cap was the U.S. Green Building Council recognizing the Rouge Visitors Center with its gold award. "(It) is only one of a handful of facilities any where in the world to be recognized. And, I think it's a safe bet to assume that it is the only such facility in a heavy industrial site of this nature," O'Brien said.
Two other Ford facilities have been certified by building council: the North American headquarters of the Premier Automotive Group in California, and the Detroit Lions' headquarters and practice facility in nearby Allen Park, Mich.
Plan Includes Restoring Historic Features
The renewal of the Ford Rouge Center means more than just putting up a new assembly plant, but also saving, restoring and then improving several of the existing buildings, such as the Kahn-designed Dearborn Glass Plant; rebuilding, on a smaller scale, the Gate 4 overpass on Miller Road; and creating a memorial to the six victims of the 1999 powerhouse explosion.
When it was originally built in 1922, the Glass Plant was considered one of Kahn's most important buildings.