Northern Virginia Daily

Portion of park cleanup complete

Article date: January 30, 2002

By: Mary Jordan

More than 50 acres of the Avtex conservancy park is now complete, according to site manager Doug Bement.

The area off Luray Avenue was recently finished and is ready to be given back to the community, Bement said. This portion includes 51 of 220 total acres.

The completion of the area, while not totally visible to the public, marks the biggest physical change of the site to date, Bement said.

"It’s stuff you don’t see, [but] there’s a lot going on," Bement said.

Some of the fly ash in that area has been removed and the land recontoured to allow for appropriate drainage. While not all of the fly ash was removed from that area, Bement assured it is a "regulated waste," meaning it is not hazardous to people’s health.

FMC Corp., which is overseeing the cleanup, also received approval from the Environmental Protection Agency earlier this month to begin remediation and decontamination of the on-site buildings. This includes asbestos abatement removing residual chemicals in the pipes and ducts, Bement said.

The next major step is continuing and finishing the closing of the sulfate and viscose basins, which are located on the west side of the railroad tracks in the conservancy park area.

FMC is in the process of removing the sulfate sludge and consolidating it to one area. Bement said the sulfate basins are nontoxic, but added that the company prefers to have them in one area as opposed to being spread throughout the property.

Closing of the viscose basins will not begin until after a study is completed to determine the most feasible way to do so, Bement said. FMC is working with the EPA to determine the best way to close the basins.

Bement added it could be years before that situation is remedied.

Once the weather gets warmer, work on the site will become more intense and involved, Bement said. Basins closure work will continue, storm water management will be reviewed and drainage improvements will be considered, he said.

While all the major work that will be done in the next two to three years in invisible to the community, Bement said the project will move faster once all the ground cleanup has been established.

"All this cleanup is just a means to an end," he said.