The former Avtex Fibers plant has been declared ineligible for a federal program that would have contributed $100,000 toward the creation of a strategy plan for its redevelopment.

The Environmental Protection Agency has decided that Superfund sites such as Avtex will no longer be considered, for participation under the agency’s Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative Pilot Program, according to Stephen A. Heavener, the executive director of the Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority. "We are back to square one now as far as how to fund the enormous research necessary to determine a strategy to come up with a plan for the redevelopment of that site," he said Thursday. "We've been eliminated from the most obvious way too that."

A Nov. 29 letter to Heavener from the EPA says the proposal previously submitted by the authority for the Avtex Superfund site isn't eligible for pilot program because that programs money wasn't intended to be used for activities at any sites listed on the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980.

Avtex, a rayon plant that covers 440 acres, closed in 1989 after more than 2,000 violations of environmental laws. It has since been put on the national priorities list of Superfund sites.

Thomas M. Stolle, the agency's regional Brownfields coordinator, said Thursday that the reason Superfund sites have been eliminated from the pilot program is because they are already being addressed through the Superfund act passed by Congress, Brownfields sites were meant to be separate from Superfund sites, he said

"We're looking at those sites that have a good chance of redevelopment," Stolle said. "Who knows when Avtex would be cleaned up for redevelopment."

The authority applied for the Brownfields assessment program two years ago, but was turned down, Heavener said. It was beginning the process of preparing a new application this year when the change in the agency's policy was discovered.

"It was a resource we were hoping to be competitive with," Heavener said.

The program offers $200,000 grants to Brownfields sites, identified as abandoned, idled or underused industrial and commercial facilities where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination.

It was designed to help communities revitalize those properties both environmentally and economically, reduce potential health risks and restore economic vitality.

The funds, which are released over a two-year period, help localities put together a strategy for redevelopment of the areas by involving community groups, investors, lenders and developers.

The program tests cleanup an redevelopment planning models, directs special efforts toward removing regulatory barriers without sacrificing protection and helps with coordinated environmental cleanup and redevelopment efforts at the federal, state and local levels.