NORTHERN VIRGINIA DAILY

Article date: September 21, 2001

 Avtex’s smokestack demolished, more changes on way

By Mary Jordan

 In less than 60 seconds, a structure that defined the skyline of Front Royal were nothing but a cloud of dust.

The “Skyline Demolition Project” began at the Avtex Superfund site Wednesday with the razing of the water tower.  A day later, the bag house stack was also taken down.

    “The residents of Warren County will experience the first real fundamental successes of the redevelopment project,” Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority Executive Director Stephen A. Heavener has said.

The demolition of these structures is the first of many that will continue in the weeks to follow.  What makes this work significant is its visibility, said Site Manager Doug Bement.

    “There’s been a lot of work that’s been going on, it’s just been invisible to the public,” Bement said.

More than 100 workers have been closing basins and performing asbestos abatement, among other work, for the past several years, Bement said.

    The 150-foot stack came down with a loud “boom” Thursday afternoon as Avtex contractors took a break from their day to watch history in the making.

The water tower was an original structure, erected when the Avtex plant was build between 1938 and 1940, Heavener said.  The bag house stack, which included a scrubber for air emissions, was built in 1972 as part of the Clean Air Act.

Heavener said taking down the structures is “symbolic” because of the history of the site.

“This is a major change in the skyline of Avtex since 1930,” Heavener said.

Envirocon Inc., of Aston, Pa., performed the work.  The firm also will be taking down two 2-million -gallon oil storage tanks, five 10,000 to 15,000 gallon water tanks, a coal storage shed, and power house stacks.

The EDA awarded the demolition bid to Envirocon in April for a total contract price not to exceed $330,000.

Following the demolition of these structures, the Army Corps of Engineers will start taking down the remaining buildings , starting from Kendrick Lane and working toward the back of the plant, Heavener said.

Heavener said it is his goal to continue to provide the community with noticeable productivity of the work being done for the redevelopment of Avtex.

“We think it’s very important that there are visible bench marks,” Heavener said.

The community has not seen this much progress on the site since the stack was blown up on Veterans Day 1997, Heavener has said.

The razing of the buildings is being funded entirely by a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Economic Development Initiative grant awarded to the EDA for Avtex decontamination and demolition, Heavener has said.