Article date: March 22, 2001

Odor comes from cleaning out basins

By: Dan Telvock

Douglas Bement, FMC Corporation on-site manager at the Avtex Superfund Site, says the strong odor that’s been stinking up Front Royal in the past few weeks is due to work that involves cleaning out three open basins that contain sulfides in them.

The odor is more prevalent during or after rain, and some people have called The Warren Sentinel, comparing the smell to sewage or sulfur.

Bement said in order to regain capacity in the basins to allow for storm drainage retention, the basins need to be cleaned out, and this disturbing of the basins is causing the stink.

"The sludge has literally filled the basins." Bement said.

Bement said sulfide sludge is being removed from two polishing basins and one emergency lagoon at the site, and compared the work to cleaning a septic tank.

Bement said the sludge removal is disturbing sediments that have been at the bottom of these basins for "several years" and some of the sulfite gases are released during the removal.

Bement said the nose is very sensitive and detect odors that are as minuscule as one part per billion, and he stressed that the release of the gases and subsequent odor in not harmful to humans.

"We have been very aggressive with monitoring (the air) to guarantee we don’t have any levels that are harmful to human health," said Bement. "However, tiny parts per billion are still susceptible to the human nose. And it stinks."

Bement said if the gas was in high concentrations, he’d be concerned, but the gases are "very, very low in concentration."

The remedy is to simply finish the project, he said, which will be sometime next week.

"Unfortunately, there’s not any physical remedy we can do about it," he said. "We are aware of (the odors) and we are trying our utmost to limit (the release of the gases). It’s a nuisance issue from the smell, not a health and safety one."