The Northern Virginia Daily

Article date: June 14, 2005

Contamination cleanup continuing at the Avtex Superfund site

 By William C. Flook

Cleanup work is continuing at the Avtex Superfund site as crews prepare to remove the remnants of the former rayon plant.

On Monday, a contractor for FMC Corp. began work to remove 44,000 feet of sewers, and annual groundwater sampling was completed for a series of wells in the area of contaminated basins, according to Sue Riner, a consultant for FMC.

FMC is the only existing company to have once owned the plant which operated for nearly half a century.  The company was required to shoulder much of the burden of cleanup after the area was declared an EPA Superfund site in 1986.  Two other owners of the site have since gone out of business.

The plant was closed in 1989, leaving behind a blight of unemployment and pollution.  Now, the site along the South Fork of the Shenandoah River is slated to become a 160-acre business park, a 240-acre conservancy park, and a 30-acre soccer complex.

FMC will need to remove chemical, sanitary and storm sewers from the land earmarked as a business park, Riner said.  There is no timeline available for when that work will be completed , she said..

The 22 wells being tested are in the future conservancy park area, she said.  The purpose of testing is to analyze for metal contamination originating from nearby basins, and compare data to previous years, Riner said.

Some soils on the site still need testing, which cannot happen until the demolition of the powerhouse complex, she said.  The tallest building left standing is scheduled to be imploded by the Army Corps of Engineers on Sept. 19.

The Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority, which is overseeing the redevelopment of the site, is still working to secure a firm to develop the business park under the “Royal Phoenix” project .  The EDA marked the transition from cleanup to redevelopment of the site with an open house in May.

EDA Executive Director Paul Carroll said the EPA, FMC Corp. and the Army Corps of Engineers have put forward a joint effort to remediate the site.

“At this point, from the EDA’s perspective, we’re very happy about the cooperation,” he said.  “Because it’s allowing us to move really quickly ahead with the redevelopment.”