Article date: April 26, 2001

Group favors ‘people power’

By Dan M. Telvock

Spiral dance and a Native American blessing were part of a grassroots organization’s way of celebrating mother earth and cleaning the land at Avtex, which is considered to be the second worst Superfund site in America.

Members of the Coalition for the Safe Redevelopment of Avtex met at the Administration Building at the Avtex property on Saturday and Sunday afternoon to celebrate Earth Day and to discuss a major concern the group has— the storing of sludge waste in basins that lie within the 100-year flood plain.

"We don’t know what the effects would be over time," said coalition member Maya White Sparks. "We have asked for a copy of their basin design and we haven’t received it."

Sparks said the Shenandoah River is a "powerful and unpredictable force," and asked how the Environmental Protection Agency and FMC, who are administering the cleanup effort, can guarantee that these basins with the sludge in them won’t be disturbed if there were to be a major flood that penetrated the 100-year flood plain.

FMC engineers plan to cap the basins with a process similar to a landfill closure. At least two feet of soil will be put on top of the basins as a cover, and either clay or a geomembrane made of high density polyethylene will line the bottom and sides. The basin top would then be revegetated and monitored closely for years to come.

Bill Cutler, site manager, and Rick Goss, FMC consultant, said "the closures we’re going to do can stand" the stress of time and weather.

But Sparks contends that ‘it wouldn’t take too much to move two feet of dirt in a flood plain. I feel it could be taken out of the basins and put in tanks or something."

Cutler confirmed that some of the sludge basins are in the 100- year flood plain, but engineers study the river’s flow and velocity during years of flooding to calculate the damage that could be caused, if any.

"That’s required," said Cutler.

Cutler also said two state agencies and one federal agency checked the engineer’s calculations and plans, which is also required.

Cutler said the model that FMC engineers use is called the Army Corps of Engineer’s Erosion and Scouring Model.

"Standing water on the basin isn’t actually going to do anything to the integrity of the basins," added Goss. "What would be the point of instituting a remedy like this?"

Sparks said some people have told her that the members of the coalition are making a difference, and messages of appreciation for their "watchdog" effort have been received.

"Put public pressure on the EPA,"Sparks said, "so they’ll remove the toxic waste."

Speaking to about 20 people who gathered in front of the Avtex administration building, she asked, " Why put the public’s health and the river at risk? It’s just plain common sense. To me, basins with tons of toxic sludge are a contradiction to the true nature of a conservancy park. The government has karma to pay, demand that they do it."

Larry Yates of the Center for Health, the Environment, and Justice also spoke at the event and talked about "people power" and "money power."

"Which one is going to make the decisions?" asked Yates.

Yates said he works with many communities like Front Royal’s and that ‘if you’ve got a group, you’ve got enough to move on."

"(From) the big media, or the evening news," said Yates, "you never hear these stories. You never see the community winning. The people with the dollar power don’t want you to see the power of the people."

Yates said the coalition is important to Front Royal because "no one else seems to care" and someone has to watch what is happening at Avtex.

" Our power doesn’t come from asking permission", he said.

"It doesn’t come from accepting what you’ve been told. I hope today you feel your own power. This process needs to be controlled by the people who live here and are affected by it."