Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, August 13, 1993 TAG: 9308130297
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Army Corps of Engineers has confirmed that environmental tests have shown toxic and hazardous materials in the soil in some areas at the industrial center.
Rather than try to clean up the materials, the corps and city might decide to leave the riverbanks at the center as they are, said Jim Carper, the corps' manager for the project.
Or they might excavate the bank on only one side of the river - away from the industrial area.
The industrial center in Southeast Roanoke is the former site of the American Viscose plant, which closed in 1958. At one time, it was the largest rayon plant in the world. More than two dozen businesses now are located there.
If contaminated soil is not disturbed, the corps and city won't be required to clean it up, Carper said.
Officials have not identified the specific materials found at the industrial center.
But they have said that tests at several sites along the river have shown the presence of chromium, lead, silver, zinc and other metals likely to be found in an industrial corridor.
Two or three smaller areas with contaminated soil have been found along the river, but officials said they pose fewer problems than the industrial center. The areas have not been identified.
The flood-reduction project is being financed and constructed jointly by the city and the corps.
Corps engineers are calculating the impact on the flood-reduction project if the river channel is not widened - or only one side is widened - in the industrial center and other areas.
If the channel is not widened at some places along the 10-mile section, flood protection would be reduced, according to the corps. Carper said the corps will calculate the amount of lost protection; this will determine whether the $38 million project is still feasible.
If the cost of the project exceeds the benefit, federal law would prohibit the corps from participating - and paying $20 million of the cost.
Planning on the project has been delayed several months because of uncertainty about federal and state standards for cleaning up hazardous and toxic materials for such projects.
Frustrated by their inability to get the agencies to establish standards, city officials and environmental consultants for the project developed their own standards and sent them to the agencies.
Norman Auldridge, regional director for the state's Department of Environmental Quality, said state officials are still reviewing the test results on the sites and information on the proposed standards.
The city, which must acquire the property for the project, wants to protect itself from potential liability if part of the land is contaminated. This is why it hired consultants to test all of the property along the river.
John Peters, who is overseeing the project for the city, said the tests have disclosed fewer sites with hazardous and toxic materials than city officials had expected.
"I feel better now than I did six months ago," before the tests were completed, Peters said.
"Now, I'm pretty certain that we've got a project," he said.
Peters said he was fairly confident that the project would remain financially feasible even if two or three areas might have to be avoided.
The project will include widening the river channel and building three floodwalls and a bike and jogging trail.
Assuming the state approves the city's proposals for hazardous and toxic materials, construction could begin in 1995 and be completed by 1998.
by CNB