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THE WARREN SENTINEL Article date: November 18, 1999 From toxic sludge to roller-blading— Avtex awaits rebirth as recreational space The most vivid reminder of Avtex in the conservancy area is its smell. The rotten-egg smell is sulfur coupled with the dustiness of fly ash. By Teresa Brumback Atop Avtex’s "Fly ash Mountain," overlooking stagnant pools of poisonous water alongside the Shenandoah River, a small group of officials pondered hiking, biking trails, and a canoe launching area at the site. Roughly 125 acres of the scarred and tainted terrain on the river flood plain at Avtex has been set aside as recreation/conservancy space, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region III spokesman Richard Kuhn. Along with the tainted ponds and Fly Ash Mountain — a 75 foot tall pile of coal dust — the most vivid reminder of Avtex in the conservancy area is its smell. The rotten-egg is sulfur coupled with the dustiness of fly ash, he said. Front Royal officials and media representatives were invited to tour the spot with EPA officials during a cold and blustery Monday afternoon. Town officials present were Town Manager Richard Anzolut Jr., Vice Mayor Tony Carter, and Town Planning Director Kimberly Fogle. It was Anzolut’s first visit to Avtex. "It’s a fantastic setting and quite an undertaking," he enthused. "Once this is all cured, this conservancy area and natural setting will be lovely." Vice Mayor Tony Carter said he could imagine hiking trails and river access, and "very limited structural facilities" for the recreation/conservancy area. "It will be a major benefit to the community once it’s completed," he added. The Front Royal/Warren County Economic Development Authority is set to take over the property next week, when a federal bankruptcy judge in Reading, Pa., approves the transfer of ownership. Federal funds will be used to continue the cleanup at Avtex, including removal of asbestos from buildings that can be salvaged for reuse. The EDA intends to create a model business park on the 440-acre site. Plans for the future include a mix of retail, commercial, and residential, with recreational and open space, and even a hotel/conference center. The EDA will refurbish and move into the old office building, which will also provide public meeting space. As the park is developed over the next 20 years, proceeds from property sales will be used to reimburse the Environmental Protection Agency for its cleanup efforts; some of the money will also go to Avtex’s bankruptcy trustee. Citizens and community groups are being encouraged as they were at a "stakeholders" meeting that evening to put forth ideas on future use of the space. Suggestions made by citizens Monday included a natural history educational area about Avtex from its inception, along with jogging, hiking, and biking trails and an area for roller-blading. The future recreation/conservancy zone is but one project at Avtex. The site’s redevelopment into a mixed use business park is being done in phases. Construction will begin in the spring for the recreation/conservancy area. It is expected to be finished and ready for public use in two years, said Kuhn. "The basins will be the area where you’ll see the most difference," Kuhn said. "The biggest threat they pose is being open." The threat is ecological, not to human health, he said. Several flocks of ducks and marsh birds were seen swimming in the waters of the basins. Risk assessments were done. "We found some damage to organs," Kuhn said. "Part involved biopsies of fish. The caught some creatures." Herds of deer have often been seen roaming the grounds of Avtex. While several were found dead recently, their deaths were due to a hemorrhagic disease affecting deer throughout Virginia not because of exposure to toxic chemicals at Avtex, Kuhn said. Asked if birds have died from drinking the toxic-tainted water in the basins, Kuhn said, "I don’t think so. But certainly it’s not the healthiest environment." The ponds at Avtex, known as "lagoons," or "basins" take up 220 acres throughout the entire site, according to EPA remedial project manager Bonnie Gross. They range up to 22 feet deep, with an additional one to six feet of toxic sludge underneath. The sludge is composed of metals including zinc, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, and "probably lead," Gross said. "The metals in the basins are fairly toxic to aquatic life and then with the proximity to the river... they’re opened and we don’t want to take a chance on them getting into the river," Kuhn said. "These particular basins weren’t contributing to ground water contamination." Officials are concerned because they lie just a few feet away from the South Fork of the Shenandoah River. Two major floods in 1995 swept over the lagoons. The plan now is to drain the water from the basins, regrade them, and cover them with tough geotextile fabric, and cap them with a clay cover before planting vegetation, Gross said. About half of the coal dust on Fly Ash Mountain will be used to fill in the craters from the drained lagoons, officials said. More soil will be needed to regrade the site. "We’re looking for soil here as will as off-site," Gross said. But the specifics of how the cleanups of the lagoons will take place haven’t been finalized, Kuhn said. The draining of the lagoons will begin in the spring. The lagoons include five sulfate basins, four fly ash basins, and three other basins by FMC’s wastewater treatment plant at the site, officials said. EPA has orchestrated the $63 million cleanup which is being preformed under a consent decree by a former operator at the site, FMC Corp. |