EPA dumps plan for Avtex landfill

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has dumped its plan for a landfill to hold contaminated construction debris at the Avtex Superfund site.

Instead, EPA’s Cs recent evaluation showed it can save money by treating and stabilizing some debris on site and shipping other debris offsite. Much of the debris continues to be salvaged and sold to private interests, officials said.

Plans for the landfill have been in the works since 1995.

Cost projections showed it would have cost $10 million to build the landfill at "fly ash mountain," a hill of coal dust from a former power plant at the site not far from the south fork of the Shenandoah River.

Estimates to ship the debris offsite were originally $100 million but that figure is lower because the volume, of debris will be cut by more than half.

EPA officials learned recently the total volume to be disposed of would be roughly l00,000 cubic yards, rather than the original estimate of 250,000 cubic yards.

EPA On Scene coordinator Michael Towle said he made the decision to abandon the landfill and no further EPA review is necessary. "I am confident in the current re-evaluation-of disposal methods and I have canceled further design activity for the landfill".

He stopped contracts on the landfill’s design last week, resulting in a total loss of $150,000 of funds already spent by the EPA. "I’m guessing I had spent approximately $150,000 for the landfill’s design and initial construction costs," he said.

Of the 100,000 cubic yards of construction debris now awaiting disposal, 60,000 cubic yards are contaminated and will require treatment before it can be disposed, he said.

Much of the construction material has been cleaned and covered with soil at the site, an action which does not trigger landfill requirements under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Towle said.

Broken concrete, brick and other non-hazardous materials have been cleaned and placed in backfill areas such as basements of the demolished buildings and covered with clean soil, officials said.

More can be disposed onsite through treatment and stabilization, where debris is cleaned and stabilized through concrete and other materials, Towle said. A method to incinerate wastes onsite won’t be considered as an option, he said, because enough other disposal methods remain. But he emphasized, "EPA still intends to ship off-site disposal any hazardous materials that cannot be recycled."

Exactly where the waste would go is presently uncertain.EPA will also continue to process contaminated runoff through an onsite wastewater treatment plant prior to discharge into the Shenandoah River.

The plant is being operated by FMC Corp. Under an EPA order. The water becomes contaminated from the cleaning and decontamination of demolition rubble, EPA officials said.

Originally, EPA planned for the landfill to hold 250,000 cubic yards of waste, including non-recyclable steel and debris from the demolition of deteriorated buildings at the former rayon and viscose manufacturing plant.

The landfill would have included a leachate collection system to catch, control and process liquid runoff as well as long-term monitoring controls.

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality worked with EPA in the decision to cancel the onsite landfill, and is still involved with the agency in plans for buildings awaiting decontamination.

Since removal of a tall ventilation stack in the fall of 1997, EPA has demolished more that 740,000 square feet of multi-level structures at the Avtex site, or roughly 20 acres of the 75 acres of existing buildings. Structures formerly known as "Acid Heat", "Acid Collection", "Staple Lines", "Box Shop", "Double Deck Spinning", "Viscose Cellar", "Mercerizing", and "Churn & Mix" were demolished.

Once the current removal project is completed, EPA will continue its evaluation and determination of further site cleanup, which will include addressing any remaining contamination at the site and in soil and ground water.

Avtex is undergoing a $33 million cleanup. It closed in 1989 after more that 2,000 violations of state environmental laws mainly associated with discharge of contaminated waste into the Shenandoah River.

The site was placed on the Superfund National Priorities List for cleanup in 1986.