NORTHERN VIRGINIA DAILY

Article Date: March 11, 2003

Fund cutoff may threaten Avtex cleanup

Allocated federal funds will be used up by the end of summer

By:  Mary Beller

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers may have to halt demolition at the Avtex Superfund site by summer’s end if further federal funding does not become available, according to a Warren County official.

By the end of the summer, the corps will have used up the $12 million allocated for asbestos abatement and demolition of the industrial buildings at the former rayon plant according to Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority Executive Director Stephen A. Heavener, who briefed the Board of Supervisors on the matter last week.

Without further funds the corps would have to “demobilize” work on site, pushing back other areas of the redevelopment.

The corps announced in October that the $12 million originally allocated for asbestos abatement and demolition would not be enough to complete work at the site, adding that an additional $10 million is needed to finish the job.

The need for the extra funding was determined after the Corps of Engineers performed a study in early 2001 that uncovered additional asbestos and remediation problems.  The agency found more asbestos in the roofs of the buildings than was anticipated, according to agency officials.

The $12 million figure was an estimate made in 1998, prior to the detailed on site analysis.

Heavener said in a telephone interview Wednesday that there is a slim chance that Rep. Frank R. Wolf, R-10th, may be able to pursue a budget amendment by the end of the year, thereby allowing work to continue.

The EDA has been seeking support for more money through both Wolf and Sens. John Warner and George Allen.  Wolf and Warner helped get Congress to authorize and appropriate the $12 million to cover the cost of asbestos abatement and demolition of the buildings during the 2000 and 2001 federal budget years, Heavener has said.

He added that the EDA is trying to determine how much demobilization would cost, adding that it might give the agency a better chance of obtaining further funding.

“I think if we can quantify that cost, it’ll help us get a budget amendment,” he said.

While an additional $10 million is needed to complete asbestos abatement and demolition, Heavener noted that the corps will not need that money all in one year in order to keep working on site.  Once the money is allocated, a schedule can be obtained as to what amount of money will be needed for each fiscal year.

“There’s a little flexibility,” he said.

The lack of federal funding has one supervisor worried.

Shenandoah District Supervisor B.H. “Ben” Weddle said that the lack of federal funds puts the county in a tough position.