The Warren County Board of Supervisors won't give its blessing to the reuse of the former Avtex Fibers plant until it's ensured that local government won't be held responsible for problems that could arise.

Supervisors on Tuesday night told Fred P. Foster, chairman of the county Redevelopment Corporation, that they'll wait until Congress passes legislation exempting from liability any state groups working to rehabilitate Environmental Protection Agency Superfund cleanup sites.

"I'm not going to vote to be a part of it or to get involved" until liability questions are answered, said board Chairman Staige F. Miller Sr., a former Avtex engineer.

Foster said the EPA plans to demolish 30 acres of deteriorating buildings at the Front Royal site and may store the torn down building materials on the site in a large brick cell. The cell would be built on the west side of the property belonging to the FMC Corp., which is responsible for much of the cleanup costs.

Four different chemicals could be contained in the buildings materials, Foster said.

"Anytime you're talking about a landfill, you're dangling flags in front of people in nothing flat," Miller said.

The other option is to haul the materials away, but that would cost $130 million, or five times the EPA regional office's entire budget, Foster said.

"My heart says I’d like to have it hauled off site," he said. "My brain says to have an open mind on this."

The community has suffered enough from Avtex's 1989 closing due to pollution violations that it should pay no more, either emotionally or financially, Foster said. But the community also could gain from reuse of the 35 acres of buildings left standing, he said. Some of that area was never contaminated with chemicals and could, be cleared for occupancy by January, he said.

EPA contractors this week began testing a section of the property to begin the redevelopment process, he said.

Foster also will discuss the site's status with the Town Council.

"The commonwealth is waiting for our answer" on how the community wants to proceed with rehabilitating the site, Foster said.

In a letter to the chairman of the House Commerce Committee and its Trade and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee, 10th District Rep. Frank R. Wolf seeks an amendment to the Superfund bill that would "exempt from liability state organizations working in the public interest on the rehabilitation and reuse of Superfund sites."

Without the legislation, he and other corporation members could be held personally responsible for problems with a local redevelopment project, Foster said.

The board also selected John C. LaBarca, former president of the town-county Chamber of Commerce, as a county representative to the joint Economic Development Authority. LaBarca replaces Donald L. Unger, who has submitted his resignation.