December 22, 1993

Asbestos said to be administrative building’s only remaining problem

In a Dec. 13 letter to William Barnett, the committee’s chairman, EPA's Superfund general remedial branch chief, Kathryn A. Hodgkiss said the Avtex accounting office fronting Kendrick Lane "will be a feasible space for the committee to focus its initial redevelopment efforts on while Superfund activities continue at the rest of the site."

Hodgkiss gave no timetable for release of the buildings and said there remained an asbestos problem that was not a federal concern.

"While the inventory of this area [the accounting office] has not been completed to date, EPA suspects that a major chemical concern is asbestos, which is not a hazardous substance regulated under superfund," Hodgkiss wrote.

"However, asbestos can present a human health threat if it becomes friable [easily crumbled]. As such, any person responsible for the operation of or using the accounting office would have to address, the potential asbestos problem in that building," she wrote.

"Also, from a security and safety standpoint, the accounting office building would need to be physically and operationally isolated from other areas of the Superfund site," she told Barnett.

"Methods for controlling access into the accounting building from the east entrances would need to be established ... by constructing a fence or moving the existing fence," Hodgkiss said.

"Other issues such as power, sewers, fire suppression,, and parking would need to be worked out."

Hodgkiss said the former Avtex parking lot across Kendrick Lane from the defunct plant's administration building is part of the federal Superfund site, despite local belief that it was not.

However, she said the parking lot was "not part of the first phase of remedial investigation" during EPA's clean-up and gave no timetable for federal action to rid the parking lot area of potential hazards.

"In the future EPA and FMC [parent company of bankrupt Avtex] may be able to negotiate an agreement in order to determine if contamination is present in this area," Hodgkiss wrote.

"In addition, it would be particularly helpful for the committee to identify the intended sewer system may have great impact on EPA's/FMC's ability to expedite work in both the buildings and the open spaces on the priority list," she said.

"The field work in progress includes an investigation of the sewers," including inspection of 200 sewer manholes and cleaning of 4,000 feet of sewer line, she said.

"EPA anticipates the results from this portion of the investigation to be completed by spring 1994," Hodgkiss said.

Barnett termed the EPA official's action "a major breakthrough...in the Industrial Redevelopment Committee's efforts to speed the return of the former Avtex property to productive use."

He said the suspected asbestos in the accounting building "is a common problem in many buildings over 30 years old."

Barnett said, "As anticipated, the time frame for release of other parts of the property will depend on the results of test, some of which is now taking place."

Barnett said it has been a major goal of a group of local citizens organized in 1992 by Front Royal jeweler Fred Foster "to get the EPA to consider economic redevelopment feasibility when prioritizing testing and remediation efforts."

Before 1992, he said, "the EPA was very clear that only environmental issues were their concern."

Barnett termed Hodgkiss’s letter "a very clear indication that our efforts have been worthwhile."

He said local citizens active in returning the former Avtex site to commercial re-use would soon be meeting "to determining the next steps."