Article date: March 07, 2001

By Dan M. Telvock

Front Royal— Engineers cleaning up the Avtex Superfund site in Front Royal say they know where contaminated groundwater is coming from and are looking at ways to fix the problem.

At an stakeholder’s meeting last Thursday, former Avtex owner FMC Corp.’s on site manager Bill Cutler said three viscose basins are causing the problem.

Viscose is the primary synthetic ingredient used in the making of rayon, which was manufactured from more that 40 years at the Avtex plant.

The Avtex Fibers plant in Front Royal was at one time the world’s largest producer of rayon. In 1986, the plant became a Superfund site after chemicals used at facility were found in the groundwater.

The comprehensive cleanup of the site by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality is expected to take another 10 years to complete.

Engineers working on the cleanup efforts have drilled about 100 wells at the 430 acre site, Cutler said, allowing the engineers to find the source of the groundwater contamination.

Four contaminants out of 23 that are on the site have been pinpointed as the major problems— ammonia, antimony, arsenic, and carbon disulfide, he added. The arsenic and antimony are metals that leeched into the groundwater through the soil and rocks.

FMC representative Doug Bement said he found something "very interesting" while trying to locate the contamination— green liquid and reddish liquid spewing from two wells located near the three viscose basins.

"One looks like Gatorade," Bement said, " and one looks like Hawaiian Punch."

Cutler said the green liquid is viscose that is heavily diluted with water and oxygen, while the reddish liquid is viscose in pure form. Bement said both forms are dangerous to the public health.

In April, the basin closure project will begin for the other 12 basins located on the site that do not contain hazardous materials— three waste water treatment basins, five sulfate basins, and four fly ash basins.

Cutler said the closure of these basins will be done in accordance with Virginia’s solid waste regulations. These basins do not contain hazardous materials, Cutler said, but solid waste that will most likely be covered with soil and sealed so that the waste can not "infect" its surroundings. The process is very similar to a landfill closure.

A feasibility study is underway to help engineers figure out what to do with the viscose basins, which have hazardous liquid in them, Cutler said.

The EPA will choose a remedy that is economically and environmentally feasible and will present its plan at a public hearing before it is adopted.