July 23, 1999

By Diane Hartson

The Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority will receive $100,000 to help redevelop the polluted Avtex Fibers site under a new federal grant program designed to encourage the reuse of Superfund sites, officials confirmed Thursday.

Sens. Charles S. Robb and John W.Warner and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Carol M. Browner are expected to attend a news conference today at 1 p.m. at the Avtex site to announce creation of the program.

Avtex is one of 10 sites nationwide chosen as pilot projects for the redevelopment program.

A spokeswoman for Ms. Browner said Wednesday that the national announcement is being made in Front Royal because EPA officials were impressed with the work local residents have put into developing the Avtex site.

Spokesmen for Warner and Robb said Thursday that the senators will attend the news conference.

The authority has "recently entered into a partnership with the EPA to facilitate the cleanup and redevelopment of the former rayon manufacturing site," an authority news release issued Thursday says. "The cooperative agreement between federal, state and local governments as well as private industry exemplifies the underlying goal of the EPA initiative."

Although officials earlier would only say grants of up to $100,000 would be available for the 10 pilot program sites, the authority release says the authority will receive $100,000 "to prepare a redevelopment plan and integrate it with the cleanup program."

No further details on the partnership agreement were available Thursday.

Officials also are expected to announce a grant from the U.S. Soccer Federation Foundation for the creation of soccer fields at Ed Stump Park, a 30-acre piece of the Avtex site, at today's news conference.

The public is invited to attend the news conference.

The authority has adopted a plan for developing the site that calls for mixed use, including light industrial and commercial and a hotel-conference center on the eastern portion of the site and a nature reserve on the western portion.

County officials expect to complete, negotiations on a prospective purchaser agreement soon, allowing the county to take over portions of the 440-acre site as they are cleaned. Officials said earlier this month that the first cleaned acreage is expected to be released for development by December.

Avtex closed the plant in 1989 after losing its state permit to discharge its waste water into the Shenandoah River because of thousands of violations of environmental laws. The EPA took control of the site and has been leveling buildings and cleaning contaminated soil for most of the decade. Avtex filed for bankruptcy when it closed, but an agreement was recently reached that will have a former owner of the plant, the FMC Corp. pay for most of the cleanup still to be done.