June 10, 1999

A plan for covering several open waste lagoons at the Avtex site so people will be able to walk over them will be unveiled at a June 17 public meeting, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in Front Royal Town Hall Council Chambers. Residents may also comment on the proposed plan through July 2.

Meantime, EPA will hold a "Stakeholders Meeting" for anyone interested or involved in the site at 6:30 p.m., June 29, in Union Hall on Chester Street.

"We've just begun to scratch the surface" with plans for the stakeholders group, EPA spokesman Richard Kuhn said. Meetings so far have focused on sharing information already publicly available on Avtex. On June 29, agency officials hope that an actual group with members and officers will be formed, and ground rules for proceeding established, he said.

The latest removal plan is for sulfate basins, wastewater treatment plant basins and lagoons, and fly ash basins and piles, EPA officials said.

Stench still comes from the lagoons on rainy or damp days -- a common complaint of local residents which EPA officials in the past have confirmed. The odor has served as a lingering reminder of Avtex ever since the plant's shutdown in November 1989.

Based on results of an EPA risk assessment, EPA found that the lagoons needed to be addressed to "reduce future risks to the environment from sludges and fly ash moving off-site during floods or windy conditions."

EPA said it also needed to "reduce potential risk to aquatic and wildlife from direct contact with uncovered waste."

Apparently there are no risks to human health associated with exposure to sulfate sludges and fly ash waste.

A study done by FMC, a former site operator which is listed as being liable as a potentially responsible party, found there are no unacceptable risks from human exposure, EPA said.

Following the public comment period ending July 2, EPA will select a final cleanup plan.

Two alternatives are listed for dealing with five sulfate basins. One consists of covering them with a soil cap, two feet deep, in addition to removing sludge and contaminated soil, regrading and landscaping the site.

However, EPA says its preferred option for the sulfate basis is to install an "enhanced" soil cover using a "geo-textile" fabric over the basins, Kuhn said.

The plan would involve maintaining the soil cap, monitoring ground water and putting mechanisms in place to prevent disturbance of the soil cover.

For three wastewater treatment plant basins, EPA's preferred option is to consolidate the sludge and eliminate the basins. EPA lists one alternative of putting a soil cover over the basins and monitoring them in the future.

EPA wants to put a soil cover over the fly ash basins and piles, and monitor them in the future.

One of the goals of the proposed plan for covering the basins is to provide unrestricted public access to the river around the wastewater treatment plant and basins. The plan is consistent with the conceptual reuse plan for Avtex that has been adopted by the Town of Front Royal and Warren County, and will allow community access to the river.

The town's conceptual reuse plan envisions pedestrian trails and overlook spots around the closed basins.

EPA has divided the 440-acre Avtex site into five management units for cleanup purposes. The units are on-site soils; remaining buildings and sewers; eight viscose basins and an onsite landfill; three more viscose basins and an associate plume of ground water; and the Shenandoah River.

These five units will be the subject of future proposed cleanup plans, the EPA said.

For more information on the comment period or reuse plan, call Bonnie Gross, EPA remedial project manager, (215) 814-3229; Richard Kuhn, EPA spokesman, (215) 814-3063; or Berry Wright, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, (804) 698-4012.