The Northern Virginia Daily

Article date: October 22, 2005

 Woman wants test at Avtex site

 By: William C. Flook

A Front Royal woman who years ago pushed for environmental studies near the Avtex Superfund site is again making a plea for the testing.

Norma Landicho, who lives on Massanutten Avenue not far from the 440-acre Superfund site, said she wants the soil and air of the nearby residential areas analyzed.  The Environmental Protection Agency has declined to fulfill her request, arguing it was unnecessary.

“ I just want to make sure they’re not going to gloss over the cleanup, say it’s much better that it is,” Landicho said.

She said she moved to Front Royal in 1992, and became active in the Coalition for the Safe Development of Avtex in 2001 after experiencing noxious air she believed originated from the site.

Landicho has recently lowered the intensity of her activism, and said she’s seen the site change for the better.  She said she’s noticed considerable air quality improvement due to the cleanup efforts of the past few years, but still wants the testing done.  The EPA, she said has fought her “tooth and nail” on the matter.

“I would like to be able to feel good about living in this area,” she said.

Bonnie Gross, the EPA’s remedial project manager for the Avtex site, pointed to a 2001 document prepared by the EPA to address similar concerns in the community.

The document details the EPA policy for testing soil and air.  It states that the ground near the edge of the Avtex property already had been sampled from the surface to a depth of 2 feet.  The EPA collected samples at 16 different locations, trying to find chemicals known to have been released at the property.

With the exception of arsenic, the document said none of the contaminants were found at levels that exceed the EPA’s standards.  Arsenic, a “widespread, naturally occurring metal,” was found at a concentration that fell in a range similar to background levels, according to the EPA.

“Because none of the soil concentrations from the on-site perimeter sampled was at a level of concern, we limited the sampling area to within the site’s boundaries, as there is no indication that the levels would be higher off site – further away from the source of contamination – on residential properties,” the document states.

In terms of air, the EPA said odors were produced by sulfur compounds in some of the Avtex wastes, and “activities such as excavating, sludge removal and pumping,” from cleanup at the site could result in an increase of odor before and after.

“Although EPA believes that compounds are not being emitted at a rate that would cause harmful effects, we do recognize that the odor may be a nuisance at times,” the document states.

The Avtex property was once home to a massive rayon plant, which was declared a Superfund site in 1986 and closed a few years later. The cleanup has involved multiple groups and government agencies, including the EPA, the Army Corps of Engineers, and FMC Corp., the only company to own the plant that is still in business today.

The land is set to become a 240-acre conservancy park, a 160-acre business park, and a 30-acre soccer complex.

Landicho, who does not have background in science, said she’s happy to see the progress in cleaning the site.

“I know it has to be done, I’m very much in favor of it being cleaned up,” she said.  “Definitely it has improved.  I can actually go for a walk and not feel like I’m going to get sick.”

In a September press release, Landicho declared that she feels the site “can never be wholly cleaned up.”