Frank R. Wolf

economic development authority director

The demolition of decaying buildings at the former Avtex Fibers plant in Front Royal will get a $1 million boost under a federal budget compromise bill expected to be filed today.

With the $5 million included in a budget bill approved last week, local officials will have $6 million, about half of the $12 million needed to remove asbestos from and tear down structures at the 600-acre Superfund site.

The buildings will be removed to make way for a business park, which the Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority will own by the end of the year.

"Combined with the $5 million (U.S. Sen. John W.) Warner and I worked on and the attention given to Avtex recently, we’re on a roll," said 10^th District Rep. Frank R. Wolf, who pushed through the newest funding initiative. "I’m pleased. It’s another important step. There’s an opportunity to turn this into an economic development site the county can be proud of."

Until recently, reuse of the former rayon site was "ideas," but now its redevelopment will be reality, he said.

The $1 million, or an amount close to it, is included in a conference committee compromise on the federal spending bill covering the departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development and several independent agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, Wolf staff members said. The bill was being prepared for filing Wednesday and was expected to be filed late Wednesday night or today.

Being included in a conference report, which is a compromise worked out between the house and Senate spending bills, virtually ensures the funding’s approval. Conference reports generally must be voted up or down with no floor amendments allowed.

Warner pushed through $5 million for the Avtex project in a different budget conference report last week.

Authority Director Stephen A. Heavener said the authority, with the $6 million, can prepare the site for redevelopment next year. Because the estimated cost of removing asbestos from the buildings and demolishing them is $12 million, about half can be completed within the next couple of years, he said.

"Half of the buildings will be completely abated of asbestos and demolished," he said.

Earlier this month, officials approved contracts calling for the authority to take ownership of the site and the adjacent former Allied Chemical plant by the end of the year.

The authority’s plan for the site calls for a business park and other commercial and light industrial use on most of the east side of the site and recreational use on the west side and at the 25-acre Ed Stump Park.

The first project, once the site is in local hands, will be renovating the front office building that faces Kendrick Lane. Heavener said about $75,000 of $275,000 received last year will be used to remove asbestos from that building.

The other $200,000 will pay for a consultant to develop a plan for asbestos abatement and demolition of the remaining buildings. Which are too deteriorated for reuse, he said.

Heavener said the timing of the $6 million in federal money is perfect because he expects to be ready to hire a contractor to clean up and tear down the buildings by April.

"It’s our intent by spring, to have a detailed construction document plan giving us a schedule for demolition," he said.

The authority plans to coordinate the demolition with cleanup work being done by the FMC Corp., a former owner of the plant.

Once the buildings are removed and infrastructure such as roads in place, that portion of the site will be ready for redevelopment, Heavener said. With the federal money, half of the buildings site could be ready to be marketed within two or three years, he said.

"If we’re getting $6 million this year," I can anticipate maybe the other $6 million next year," he said. "Then we would have all the funds in place to accelerate" development of the site.

Wolf said he and Warner will try to get more money for the project next year.

"We’re on our way. This is real money," he said. "We’ll team up again next year and see what we can do."

Built in 1940 as the American Viscose plant, the Avtex site was Warren County’s major employer for nearly 50 years.

Declared a federal Superfund site in 1986, Avtex voluntarily closed its doors in 1989 after more that 2,000 violations of environmental laws.

The EPA has demolished many polluted buildings at the sit and the smokestack, once a Front Royal landmark, but the remaining buildings don’t contain contamination of the type the agency removes. The EPA doesn’t deal with asbestos and lead, the contaminants in the remaining buildings.