By: Ben Orcutt

Several speakers at a Warren County-Front Royal Economic Development "Green Design" workshop Tuesday assured members of the community that redevelopment plans for the Avtex Superfund site will be environmentally safe and sound.

That is the opposite of the abundance of pollutants that ultimately forced the site’s closing in 1989. The EDA plans to redevelop the 430-acre site along the South Fork of the Shenandoah River into an eco-industrial park.

"We want to see responsible businesses brought into the community," said Maile Deppe, research director at Cornell University’s Work and Environment Initiative.

"There’s a lot of community distrust over bringing businesses back into that site (Avtex)."

Deppe has worked with communities nationwide on the development of eco-industrial parks.

Based on a statement from the 1996 Presidents Council on Sustainable Development, an eco-industrial development encourages " a community of businesses (to) cooperate with each other and with the local community to efficiently share resources (information, water, energy, infrastructure, and natural habitat), leading to economic gains, gains in environmental quality, and equitable enhancement of human resources for the business and local community."

The cornerstone of eco-industrial development include maximum recycling of resources, networking of businesses, community investment in the project, and productive work environments, Deppe said.

The goal, she said, is to determine what kinds of businesses would be compatible with the community’s interests.

"A lot of the parks that are starting from scratch are starting with and anchor." Deppe said. Some parks have used power plants as anchors, she said. "There’s really not a set formula to set these things up," Deppe added.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in involved with the cleanup of the two existing administration buildings at the Avtex site, said Dan deBettencourt, the EDA’s architect for the project.

"We’ve found that the buildings are very brown (full of contaminants) inside," deBettencourt said. The contaminants include asbestos and PCBs, among other items he said. The west building should be ready for the EDA to begin reconstruction work by September, deBettencourt has said. The EDA has said it will submit bids for the work in segments. This building will eventually be the headquarters for the EDA.

In addressing Tuesday’s workshop, deBettencourt outlined six primary areas of focus with regard to the Avtex site. They include the site’s Superfund status, the consumption of energy, healthy uses of the environment, bringing a balance of ecology back to the site, the use of material at the site and recycling of materials, and change, or growth of the proposed eco-industrial park.

The development of the Avtex site into an eco-industrial park should help encourage the restoration of other similar sites, deBettencourt said. The amenities of the workspace of the west building will include operable windows and occupancy sensors to control the heating and ventilation system, he said.

Other plans include 100 percent storm water control and on site recycling and composting of materials, he added. The parking areas will be constructed of porous material that will allow for the absorption of water, deBettencourt said.

Many items within the 12, 500 square foot building can be reused, deBettencourt said. They include windows, doors sinks, marble toilet partitions, and tile bath floors he said.

Plans call for the use of environmentally friendly paints, vermiculite insulation, and linoleum floors, deBettencourt added. The EDA also would like to include a history of the Avtex site, from polluter to green design, he said.

"We’re a small building, gut we hope we’re the flagship leading the way," deBettencourt said. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said that cleanup for the remainder of the site could take from five to seven years.

Those who are working on the redevelopment of the Avtex site have tried to follow in the footsteps of other green design "trailblazers," deBettencourt said. He cited the involvement of some f the other speakers at Tuesday’s workshop in the eco-development movement.

The Avtex site may be somewhat unique in terms of green desing, deBettencourt said. "It’s working withing the context of what we have.

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