THE WARREN SENTINEL

By Joe Farruggia

The Avtex Superfund Multi-Stakeholder’s Group will sponsor the first ever open house at the Avtex Fibers Superfund site on Saturday, July 7, from noon to 5 p.m., according to Rick Goss, a consultant for FMC Corp., and Rick Kuhn of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“The purpose is to give the public an opportunity to see exactly what we are doing out here so they will be comfortable with it,” said Kuhn.
The open house will include display booths that deal with specific issues related to the Avtex clean up and a tour of the site similar to one given recently to U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf and members of the news media.
A picnic style lunch will also be provided, and there will be a short multi- stakeholders group meeting at 1 p.m. to receive updated information on the progress of the cleanup and reuse of the site.
Goss recently said that the idea for the open house grew out of repeated requests from members of the public to visit the site to see what is happening there. Goss, in fact, escorted one family that lives near the site on a special tour recently so they could see the work in progress for themselves.
“We want the public to be informed and to be able to understand what we are trying to do and how we are doing it,” Goss said.
Both Goss and Kuhn said the open house next week will provide an opportunity for local residents to speak one on one with representatives of FMC , the EPA, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality and the Front Royal Warren County Economic Development Authority.