Planning Research Corporation
AVTEX FIBERS
Responsible Party Searchand
Financial Assessment
DRAFT FINAL REPORT
Prepared for
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCYOffice of Waste Programs Enforcement
Washington, D.C. 20460
Work Assignment NoEPA RegionSite No.Date PreparedContract No.PRC No.Prepared By
Telephone No.
73334D1January 29, 198568-01-703715-0730-77Versar(Robert Murphy)(703) 642-6747
TABLE OF CONTENTSPage
I. INTRODUCTION. ................................................... 1
II. HISTORY OF SITE OPERATIONS. ..................................... 2
III. TITLE SEARCH. ................................................... 7
IV. CORPORATE STATUS AND FINANCIAL STATUS. . ......................... 7
V. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS. , ................................... 16
FIGURE
1 WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEM* AMERICAN VISCOSE CORPORATION.1946............................................................ 4
TABLES
1 SUMMARY OF TITLE SEARCH DOCUMENTS. AVTEX FIBERS SITE. ........... 8
2 CORPORATE STATUS POTENTIALLY RESPONSIBLE PARTIES. ............... 14
ATTACHMENTS
1 VIRGINIA STATE WATER CONTROL BOARD HISTORY. FRONT ROYAL AREA
2 DEED AND LEASE SEARCH DOCUMENTS
3 CORPORATE ANNUAL REPORTS. VIRGINIA STATE CORPORATION COMMISSION
4 CORPORATE CONSOLIDATED REPORTS, DUN AND BRADSTREET. INC.
I. INTRODUCTION
Versar has performed this Responsible Party Search (RPS) of theAvtex Fibers site in Front Royal. Virginia* for U.S. BPA Region III. Thepurpose of this RPS is to identify the parties who are potentiallyresponsible for past operations at the site, conduct a title search ofthe property* identify the level of involvement each potentiallyresponsible party had during the operation of the site, and assess thecurrent financial status of the potentially responsible parties.
The initial effort included traveling to BPA Region III to meet withMs. Insetta, Primary Contact, to discuss the task and obtain copies ofdocuments from the Region III files. Upon request by Ms. Insetta, thetitle search was performed as a priority item. Versar obtained deed andlease related documents from the Warren County* Virginia* Clerk's office*summarized the documents.*and provided findings to the BPA Region III fortheir use in preparing CBRCLA Section 104B letters.
Personnel from the Virginia State Water Control Board (SWCB) and theDepartment of Health were interviewed by telephone regarding theirknowledge of the site's historical use. Versar also requested andreceived documents from the SWCB.
Current corporate status, financial information, and corporatehistorical information were obtained for potentially responsible partiesfrom the Virginia State Corporation Commission and Dun and BradstreetCorporation reports.
Versar reviewed all information obtained to ensure that all relaventinformation Is provided in this Draft Potentially Responsible PartyReport. The sources of Information are referenced throughout this reportand include public officials, written documentation, the Virginia StateCorporation Commission, and Dun and Bradstreet.
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II. HISTORY OF SITE OPERATIONS
This section provides information on the history of the Avtex Fibersfacility. The information includes dates and descriptions of the initialoperations, change of owner/operator, changes in waste handlingoperations, and production rates. Much of the information in thissection was provided from a history of the Virginia SVCB developed by aformer employee of the SVCB (Attachment 1).
Initial Operations
The facility began operation on August 15. 1940, as American ViscoseCorporation* and the general operation has not changed significantlysince then. The plant produces rayon by means of the viscose process.Sheets of wood pulp are crumbled and steeped In a strong solution ofcaustic soda. The slurry that is formed is dewatered. shredded, and agedbefore reacting with carbon bisulfide to form sodium-cellulosexanthate.
-- The xanthate is then dissolved In dilute caustic soda to form viscosesolution. After aging, filtering, and deaeratlon, viscose solution isextruded in a sulfuric acid-zinc sulfate bath where the cellulose isregenerated In the form of continuous rayon fibers.
Sodium sulfate is generated by the reaction of caustic and sodium-cellulosexanthate with sulfuric acid. The sodium sulfate is recoveredand sold as Glaubers' salt (Na.SO .10 H_0).
Wastewater constituents Include oxygen-demanding cellulose andsulfur compounds (BOD), caustic soda, sulfuric acid, sodium sulfate, zinccompounds, finish solutions, phenols, arsenic, and carbon disulfide.
Facility Owner/Operator
The facility owner/operator has changed three times since operationsbegan In 1940, as shown on the following table.
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Years Owned/Company operated Facility
American Viscose Corporation 1940-1963FMC Corporation 1963-1976Avtex Fibers. Incorporated 1916-1979Avtex Fibers-Front Royal, Incorporated 1979-present
The chain of ownership/operation is provided in more detail inSection III and within the documents included in Attachment B. obtainedduring the deed and lease search.
Changes in Waste Handling
The facility was first operated during a period shortly precedingWorld War II. The high priorities during the first five-year period(1940 to 1945) did not include the need for proper pollution control.However, during 1946 the Virginia State Vater Control Board (SVCB) wasestablished. Its establishment was in part due to pressure from theIzaak Walt on League because of their concern about the discharge from theAmerican Viscose Corporation plant. The discharge had apparently almosteliminated aquatic life in the Shenandoah River for a 50-mile stretch.
After the SWCB was established, American viscose Corporation waspressured to improve its wastewater treatment operations. From 1946 tothe present t the facility improved its wastewater treatment facilitiesand decreased its pollutant loading to the south fork of the ShenandoahRiver. These improvements, however, resulted in the pollution of thegroundwater beneath the facility.
In 1946, American Viscose Corporation made significant improvementsto its wastewater treatment facilities. The system in place, whichIncluded acid neutralization with limestone beds, was not effective.American Viscose Corporation added * calcium oxide neutralization tank, asettling tank, and a vacuum filter for acidic wastewaters. Sulfurbearing wastewaters were treated through a trickling filter. Sludgesgenerated from both treatment processes were landfilled. Figure 1 showsthe wastewater treatment system with improvements, which was in use byJuly 1, 1946.
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American Viscose's discharge continued to be recognized as a majorcontributor to aquatic life inhibition and fish kills in the shenandoahRiver. In response, the SWCB directed the company to make more improve-ments to its wastewater treatment facilities. By December 6, 1948,American Viscose had again made significant improvements in its treatmentfacility and in the quality of its effluent. The improved system includedthe use of three 1,000.000-gallon settling lagoons, one 1,000.000-gallonemergency treatment lagoon, and a zinc sludge lagoon.
In December 1958, a fish kill involving approximately 500,000 fishoccurred which was attributed to American Viscose. American Viscoseultimately paid a $30,000 fine for the event.
FMC Corporation acquired American Viscose Corporation in 1963.During the 1960s, there were sporadic fish kills involving relativelysmall numbers of fish (Attachment 1). In the late 1960s, PHC made anevaluation of its wastewater management activities and concluded thattreatment to reduce BOD should be installed. These plans coincided withSWCB requirements, enacted in 1970, specifying that all wastewater mustreceive secondary treatment, or its equivalent, before discharge to anyVirginia stream. An activated sludge treatment plant was started up inFebruary 1974 to treat the neutralized, zinc-free effluent that hadpreviously been discharged to the river.
Avtex Fibers acquired FWC Corporation's Front Royal plant In 1976.Title documents show that Avtex Fibers-Front Royal acquired the samefacility from Avtex Fibers In 1979 (Attachment 2).
The continual expansion of the wastewater treatment facilities andthe continued need for more basins for dewatering and onslte landfill ingof sludges eventually evolved into an area of 130 acres that containedwaste materials. This presently includes the use of 23 basins. Wasteviscose has been placed In 11 basins (250 acre-ft), sulphate sludge andzinc sludge in 6 basins (1.200 acre-ft)* and ash from coal-fired boilerin 4 basins; 2 basins near the sewage disposal plant have been set asidefor emergency retention.
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All basins have been constructed of soils found onsite which is amixture of silt, clay, and sand and therefore is moderately drained.There are no clay or synthetic liners beneath any of the 23 basins.During 1984, Avtex Fibers-Front Royal began constructing new basins usinga cement soil mixture as a liner. In addition, an active leachatecollection system was constructed.
Production Rates
The production process at the facility has not changed greatly sinceoperations began in 1940. but the production rate is double what it wasin 1946. Avtex Fibers provided comparative production rates for threedifferent years to the SWCB. The units for these three production rateswere not provided in order to protect business interests. The correspond-ing production rates are: 1946 - 40.2 units; 1969 - 91.0 units; and1979 - 80.0 units/
Avtex Fibers also provided the SWCB with generation and dischargerates for BOD, H.SO., and zinc for the same years (Attachment 1).The information is summarized in the chart below; generation anddischarge rates are in thousands of pounds per day.
800 HjS04
Year
1946
1969
1979
ProductionIndex
40.2
91.0
80.0
FromProcess
12.5
19.5
18.7
ToRiver
10
8.4
2.8
FromProcess
148
101
93
ToRiver
145
<1
<1
Zinc
FromProcess
24
22
16
ToRiver
24
0.8
0.2
SiteOperator
American Viscose
FhC
Avtex Fibers
The figures in the chart demonstrate that, over the years, the dischargerates have been greatly reduced while production has doubled.
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III. TITLE SEARCH
Vcrsar conducted a review of the documents on file in the WarrenCounty. Virginia, Clerk's Office for deed and lease Information on theAvtex Fibers site. Copies of 31 documents pertaining to the propertywere obtained and are included as Attachment 2. (Note: A copy ofAttachment 2 has previously been forwarded LO U.S. BPA Region III.) Thedocuments are summarized in Table 1, which shows a fairly clear chain ofownership for the Avtex Fibers site.
The title search encompassed a time period from 1937 to the present.The documents for the period of 1931 to 1940 generally centered aroundpreparation of the site for the construction of the facility. The31 documents obtained include deeds* right of ways* sublease assignments,deeds of trust* and modifications to prior documents.
only one corporation appeared in these documents as an operator atthe Avtex Fibers site which was not named previously as an owner oroperator. The Buckeye Cellulose Corporation* which appears to have beena supplier of cellulose to Avtex Fibers-Front Royal, Incorporated, had an11-month lease on a storage building at the facility in 1983. '.*>•.,." '»• t. - •*'V 'IV. CORPORATB STATUS AMD FINANCIAL STATUS : ; ,')
This section provides general organizational and financial Informa-tion on the corporations that are potentially responsible parties withrespect to the Avtex Fibers facility. From Information obtained whiledeveloping the history of site operations and conducting the title search,four corporations have been identified as past or present owners/operatorsof the Avtex Fibers facility. These four corporations* their registeredagent, the address of the registered agent* the state incorporated in.and the date the corporation qualified with the Virginia State CorporationCommission are all provided in Table 2. The most recently availableannual report filed with the Virginia state Corporation Commission Corthree of the four corporations is provided in Attachment 3. No annualreports were available for Avtex Fibers, Incorporated* since it qualified
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TABLE 2CORPORATE STATUS
POTENTIALLY RESPONSIBLE PARTIES*
Date RegisteredName and Address of State of as Corporation
Name of Corporation Registered Agent Incorporation in Virginia
American Viscose Corporation Edward R. Parker Delaware N/A5511 Staples Rill RoadRichmond, VA 23228
FHC Corporation Edward R. Parker Delaware 6/6/735511 Staples Hill RoadRichmond. VA 23228
x.Avtex Fibers-Front Royal» Inc. Edward R. Parker Virginia 3/29/78
5511 Staples Hill RoadRichmond, VA 23228
Avtex Fibers, Inc.b Edward R. Parker Pennsylvania 4/16/845511 Staples Rill RoadRichmond. VA 23228
Information obtained from the Virginia Corporation Comtission (804/786-3733)bAvtex Fibers, Inc. qualified for registration on 4/16/84 with the Virginia CorporationConmission.
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as a corporation on April 16, 1984, and a report is not yet required.The annual reports provide a list of principal officers and directors.The financial status of the corporations listed in Table 2 can be bestassessed through reports made available from Dun and Bradstreet(Attachment 4).
Dun and Bradstreet has no corporate information for American Viscosecorporation. It appears that American Viscose Corporation became adivision of PHC Corporation in 1963 when FMC acquired the facility (seethe history section of Dun and Bradstreet's FMC report). Therefore,although the Virginia Corporation Commission still receives annualreports from American Viscose Corporation, American viscose may not beactive.
The corporation information for FMC, Avtex Fibers, and Avtex Fibers-Front Royal only Included financial information for FMC Corporation. Asof December 31. 1983* FHC's current assets were $1.3 billion, and currentliabilities were $0.77 billion, which correlates to a current ratio of1.71. Sales for 1983 were $3.50 billion, and net Income was$0.17 billion (Attachment 4).
From the Information obtained through the Virginia corporationCommission and Dun and Bradstreet. there are many factors that Inter-connect the four corporations listed on Table 2 as well as otherinformation which may be important.
The present chairman of the board of FMC corporation, Robert H.MaLott, was vice president of the American Viscose Division In 1965 andvice president and manager of film operations for the American ViscoseDivision in 1966.
On February 26. 1980, a federal grand Jury in United States DistrictCourt for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Indicted FMC Corporation.charging the company variously submitted false Information to the UnitedStates Environmental Protection Agency In 1975 and 1976, relative to
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discharge of carbon tetrachloride at the company's South Charleston. WestVirginia, plant and engaged In a conspiracy to submit false informationand obstruct administration of the law in 1975. 1976, and 1977(docket #80-91) (Felony). On November 11, 1980, the company pleadedguilty to five of the six counts of the indictment and was fined $35,000and as part of the plea agreement was required to pay $1 million to atrust fund to further water pollution research and study (Attachment 4).
FMC Corporation's vice president for tax, Robert J. Moody, is alsolisted as the vice president and assistant secretary of the AmericanViscose Corporation on the 1984 annual report.
The registered agent for all four corporations in Virginia isEdward R. Parker of Richmond (Table 2).
Avtex Fiber's president and chairman of the board. John N. Oregg,was employed by American Viscose Corporation from 1957 to 1963 and FMCFibre Division from,1963 to 1976. He became president of Avtex Fibers in1976.
Avtex Fiber's senior vice president for marketing, James B.Criitchfield, was director of sales for FMC from 1957 to 1978. He becamevice president for Avtex Fibers in 1978.
The principal officers and directors of Avtex Fibers-Front Royal,Incorporated, appear to include all of the officers of Avtex Fibers,Incorporated.
V. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Four potentially responsible parties have been identified. Bachpotentially responsible party was or is an owner and/or operator of theAvtex Fibers facility. The four potentially responsible parties are:
American Viscose CorporationPMC CorporationAvtex Fibers, incorporatedAvtex Fibers-Front Royal. Incorporated
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These potentially responsible parties were identified through areview of documents from the title search, from review of recordsprovided by U.S. EPA Region III and the Virginia SWCB, and fromconversations with public officials of the Virginia SWCB. conflictinginformation exists on American Viscose Corporation. Although it appearsthat American Viscose was absorbed by FMC Corporation as American ViscoseDivision, American Viscose Corporation filed an annual report with theVirginia Corporation Commission on November 29, 1984.
According to Mr. Joe Frommel of the Virginia SWCB, some wastes weredisposed of off site prior to 1978. However, there are no records whichindicate clearly what quantities and types of wastes were disposed of andwhere they were landfilled.
All records and conversations with knowledgeable officials indicatethat the facility has been using basins and lagoons to dewater and disposeof sludges and solid wastes since 1946 or before. However, no clearaccounting is available of when and how each basin and lagoon was usedduring this period. If such a precise assessment is necessary, it willrequire interviews with knowledgeable plant personnel, both currently andpreviously employed. Such a precise assessment is complicated by the ageof the basins and lagoons, the various types of wastes that have been andare generated, the changes In the waste generation and handling practices*and the practice of devotering waste In one lagoon while disposing ofwaste in another.
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