Article date: September 13, 2000

By Ben Orcutt

The folks who are working on the cleanup and redevelopment of the Avtex Superfund site in Front Royal have a common goal: They want Avtex to be known as a place that people are attracted to rather than a place that people would rather not talk about.

Opened in August 1940 under the name of America Viscose Corporation, Avtex employed as many as 7,000 workers in its heyday. In June 1986, the site was added to the federal Superfund list. By the time the plant closed in November 1989, the work force had dwindled to about 500.

The plant produced various products, one of which was rayon for the federal government, according to Avtex literature.

Many people in the Front Royal area have bad memories of the plant’s closing. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, along with other federal, state and local agencies, including the Front Royal Warren County Economic Development Authority, want to return the approximately 500 acre site to the positive role it once played in the community.

Richard E. Goss is a community relations consultant with the firm of DecisionQuest-EIM. Goss’ firm has been retained by FMC, the potential responsible partner who is paying for much of the cleanup work at Avtex. Since Avtex went bankrupt, former owner FMC is considered responsible for helping to fund cleanup efforts, according to Superfund legislation.

Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., and Rep. Frank R. Wolf, R-10th, have been able to persuade Congress to allocate between $10 million and $15 million in additional funding for remediation and redevelopment work at Avtex, according to Richard Kuhn, EPA Community Involvement Coordinator.

"So what this (additional funding) does is it moves the process forward so that it (Avtex site) can turn into some kind of community asset," Goss said.

Kuhn said other Superfund sites around the country have been reclaimed and are an integral part of their communities. One example is the Kane Lombard Superfund site north of Baltimore and just off Interstate 95, he said. That site includes a golf driving range and softball fields, Kuhn said.

The Anaconda Smelting Superfund site in Montana includes a golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus, Kuhn said.

EDA plans for the Avtex site include the redevelopment of administration buildings, a business park, a state-of -the-art soccer complex, and a nature conservancy area.

"It’s (redevelopment plans) just a perfect match (for the Avtex site)," Kuhn said.

Once remediation and redevelopment has occurred, the Avtex site will afford water enthusiasts more that a mile of frontage access to the Shenandoah River, Goss said.

The average number of workers at Avtex on a daily basis is between 50 and 60, Kuhn said. The EPA has spent about $60 million on the project and the total cost to FMC is estimated to be about $70 million, he said.

It will be another eight to 12 years before the cleanup is complete, Kuhn said. "When we wouldn’t have an onsite presence every day," he added. The site will continue to be monitored on a long term basis, Kuhn said.

"Any type of ground water remediation, we’re talking 30 years," he said.

FMC is committed to community input and involvement in the project, Goss said. A Multi-Stakeholders Group, which is comprised of representatives from municipal planners, businesses, environmental groups, local officials, and community members, has been formed to obtain input, according to Avtex literature. An MSG meeting is scheduled some time in late October, Kuhn said. MSG meetings are open to the public, he said.

Some of those community members who have a vested interest in how Avtex is redeveloped include Avtex retirees, Goss said. "They have become very involved because they want to try to preserve some of the Avtex history," he said.

The retirees are excited about the redevelopment of Avtex, Kuhn said.

"It’s almost like a fraternal attitude that they have," he said. "They don’t want to let the work they did there be forgotten."