http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/175/2009/september/02/underground-shelter-can-ease-your-mind-1.html

Posted on Wed, Sep. 9, 2009

Underground shelter can ease your mind

By: JOHN ANASTASI

The Intelligencer

Worried about natural disaster, terrorism or nuclear war? A Bucks man has the solution for you: an underground disaster shelter

Even on a day in which wildfires continued to punish Californians for refusing to leave their homes outside Los Angeles, Lower Southampton's George L. Welhaf Jr. said, in no uncertain terms, that evacuation is for the birds.

"You see these people getting into vehicles with their children and the clothes on their backs and head out on a highway with thousands of other people because they think that's the only solution," he said Tuesday.

Welhaf has an alternative that he said could have prevented wildfire-related injuries in California - an underground disaster shelter. His Green Eye Technologies LLC installs underground shelters where individuals, families and, in some cases, small communities, can ride out natural disasters and nuclear, biological or chemical attacks.

Green Eye Technologies is the exclusive U.S. distributor of bomb shelters designed and sold by Texas-based Radius Engineering Inc.

The smallest elliptically shaped underground rooms (about 24 feet long and about 10 feet tall - can hold up to 10 people with supplies for a year and can be buried on less than an acre. The largest can hold hundreds of people in a network of rooms connected by tunnels to a round community living space measuring 60 feet in diameter with a domed 22-foot-high ceiling.

The units, which are entered through a hatch in the ground, are made from a heavy duty, water-resistant Fiberglas composite material. They come with toilets, air filtration systems, communication equipment, water tanks, plumbing, lighting and power from a bank of batteries.

While the price tag for even the most basic shelters runs about $100,000 - about $175,000 after delivery and installation charges - Welhaf said business is brisk, compared to when Green Eye Technologies began installing the shelters about five years ago.

"I think there's been extraordinary growth in awareness of our vulnerability regarding the environment and terrorism and it's all unforeseen things," he said.

To install the shelters, Welhaf employs two eight-man crews led by his sons, Geoffrey and George. Welhaf said they've handled many installations of small shelters for property owners who take a second mortgage on their house to pay for the shelters. He said they've also installed more elaborate systems for rock stars and professional athletes.

Welhaf was tightlipped about the identities of the company's clients and the locations of the shelters. "People are very concerned about people not knowing they have them," said Welhaf.

He said he hasn't installed any for customers in Bucks County, but added that there are two located within 100 miles of suburban Philadelphia - one in New Jersey and one in Delaware.

Green Eye Technologies doesn't generally scrap with municipalities and zoning officials over the shelters because they're for emergency use only and don't constitute permanent structures, he said. Therefore, he argued, they wouldn't fall under codes that regulate building and zoning matters.

Welhaf acknowledged that, for financial and logistical reasons, buying and installing an underground disaster shelter isn't feasible for everyone. Because of that, Green Eye Technologies is launching a shelter community database where groups of families can connect with each other to pool their resources and purchase one cooperatively.

"We're not running around saying 'the sky is falling' but we have a product if you feel you have a need for it," he said.

Radius Engineering LLC President Walton McCarthy said that individuals make up between one-third and one-half of those who buy the Texas company's shelters through businesses like Green Eye Technologies. The rest are corporations, government entities and institutions with a stake in staying in business following a disaster or an attack.

McCarthy had high praise for Welhaf's operation, which finances itself through commissions on the sales and installations of the shelters.

"There's a lot of brains and skills over there," McCarthy said. "They know what they're doing and I want it done right."

John Anastasi can be reached at 215-949-4170 or at janastasi@phillyBurbs.com.

On the Web: www.greeneyetech.com

"The Future Belongs To Those Who Plan"