The Northern Virginia Daily

January 27, 2009

Avtex Superfund site sewer removal enters third, final phase

By M.K. Luther -- Daily Staff Writer

FRONT ROYAL -- Although there is no final completion date for the entire Avtex Superfund site project, the third and final phase of ongoing sewer removal work has started.

The third phase of sewer removal began Jan. 5, and backfilling of sewers already removed during the second phase is continuing, said John Torrence, site manager for FMC, the company leading the Avtex site cleanup.

Extensive removal and recovery work has been performed at the 340-acre site, once home to a large rayon manufacturing facility, since the Environmental Protection Agency declared it a Superfund site in 1986.

The sewer removal, or excavation work, began at the Avtex site in June 2005 and has continued in phases, with the current work focusing on removing all sewer lines located west of the Norfolk and Southern Railroad line.

Sewer removal will continue toward the wastewater treatment plant located on the site, but the sewer lines below the plant itself will temporarily remain intact to allow for the plant's continued use.

Uprooting the sewer lines leaves extensive trenches that then must be refilled with soil at the phase's completion.

"We like to fill them [trenches] as quickly as possible because it removes a potential safety hazard from the site," Torrence said.

Significant progress was made with capping and covering the site's viscose basins -- landfills that stored defective viscose materials -- in the summer of 2008.

The basins need grass covering before that portion of the remedial work can be considered complete.

"They are not done because the appropriate grass is not growing on them yet, but that will be addressed this year," Torrence said.

To ensure a natural environmental habitat develops throughout the site, the bins are being reseeded only using grasses native to Virginia.

"This is not the type of grass seed you can go to your local hardware store and just pull it off the shelf," Torrence said.

Similarly, the open-space conservancy will have only indigenous plants and trees.

The Avtex Superfund site work is being done under the EPA's Superfund Redevelopment Initiative, which is designed to rehabilitate contaminated sites for rebuilding and eventual reuse.

The redevelopment initiative plans for a former contaminated site's recovery by considering a community's plan or vision for the site's future use.

Remedial work for the Avtex Superfund site was planned with the three main goals of the community: an industrial park, a soccer complex and an open-space conservancy area, Torrence said.

"We are working very well and closely with the U.S. EPA," Torrence said. "It is a common goal for all of us -- we want to see this place redeveloped as quickly as possible."