Article date: March 08, 2001

By Ashley May

FMC Corp. Employees are testing new techniques and the effects of the old way of doing thins at the Avtex Superfund site as they plan to step up the decontamination of the former viscose plant.

According to Doug Bement, project coordinator for FMC , a former owner responsible for the private portion of the cleanup effort, project managers are experimenting with a natural process that may remove zinc from sallow pools of wastewater on the Avtex grounds.

Mushroom compost introduced to containment ponds full of zinc sulfate, one of the main water contaminants on the Avtex site, has been shown to react with and remove zinc from the water, Bement said.

"It’s going to be a gas if it works, but I want to reiterate that this project is experimental," he said.

As that technique is tested, a more traditional wastewater treatment plant has been reconfigured, and is treating storm water, he said.

"We’re able to put clean water back into the Shenandoah (River)," he said.

So far no ill effects to native animal and plant life on the 500 acre site have been noted, but the scientists from the Smithsonian are making bird counts and studying the effects of the viscose plant operations on wildlife.

"We’re interested in knowing what effect, if any, the fact that this is a Superfund site has on the plant and wildlife around here," he said.

So far, it appears that fish in the river and plants and animals on the site haven’t been affected, but a study will set a baseline to study future effects, he said.

"In order to do good science, you’ve got to start somewhere," he said.

The most visible portion of this summer’s cleanup schedule will be the removal of several large smokestacks and storage tanks sometime this summer. Defunct since the plant was closed in 1989, the removal of what the Front Royal Warren County Economic Development Authority calls " the most visible things in the county" will make a large cosmetic contribution to the remediation process.

The first phase of the multi-million dollar basin closure project will soon go out to bid, and Bement said he expects crews to be in the field by April.

So far, projects are moving along as planned, Bement said.

Eventually, the EDA , which is overseeing the redevelopment, plans to integrate a 240- acre Shenandoah River conservancy park by the Shenandoah River, a 30- acre park for professional grade soccer fields, and a 70- acre passive recreation park on the west river bank.