Avtex Remembrance Walk: A Solemn Theme for Labor Day Weekend

“For those who want it,” Kevin Cuddeback said of an upcoming walk he organized at the former Avtex site, “no explanation is necessary. For those who do not want it, no explanation is possible.”

First a scandal, then a mess, then forgotten, the story of an industrial plant, shut down in 1989 after reckless disregard for safety in the disposal of its chemical waste, came into focus on September 5, as interested citizens learned about the long-term consequences of that rayon manufacturer’s disregard, which endure to the present as a multi-organizational effort to clean up the site – or at least clean it to a standard that would allow redevelopment – continues in real time.

Event organizer for the Labor Day weekend Avtex walk, Kevin Cuddeback (far left), held a piece of sodium sulfate, which he passed around for participants to smell. It is one of the only non-lethal byproducts of the former Avtex plant and smells like a poorly maintained beach. Royal Examiner Photo Credits: Brenden McHugh

Cuddeback serves on the Board of Architectural Review. His family roots in this town date back to the seventies, when his father was associated with Christendom College. He holds a degree in physics from Georgetown University with the dignity of someone who sees immediate application for his academic background – everywhere. Dressed in orange, he greeted the participants enthusiastically and proceeded to offer a history lesson using a map.

With the help of a map, Cuddeback explained key details about the infamous Avtex plant before the walk began.

While learning about this darker aspect of Front Royal’s history, wherein hazardous materials were dumped into unlined pits, which then leaked into the Shenandoah River, the citizenry also had the opportunity to reflect with Robert MacDougall of the Economic Development Authority on how the site should be redeveloped. The historical amber viscose dumping was mentally minimized as that morning’s fellow travelers developed a tighter focus on what they would like to see in the future. Food manufacturing was among the things mentioned.

Participants paused for a moment in the 1.8-mile circuit.

The arrival of a skincare concern might be poetic justice. With the historical amber viscose dumping serving as a symbol for an unceasing effort to invade personal space and reduce integrity, the integrity of a skin barrier might be an appropriate thing for this locality to contemplate in conjunction with something along the lines of Jergens. Whatever materializes, Cuddeback intends to make this Avtex remembrance walk a tradition for each yearly Labor Day weekend, honoring those who worked for Avtex, many of whom became desperately sick. For anyone else who wants to walk with Cuddeback, an opportunity arises on the 26^th and 27^th of this month: at 10 am on the 26th and at 2 pm on the 27th. Enter 400 Kendrick Lane in the GPS,

The 117-acre site where the Avtex plant was located, now a property that is a candidate for commercial redevelopment, stands in relation to the much larger area also owned by the Economic Development Authority, much of it under conservation with varying levels of restriction pertaining to the individual covenants governing each section and its level of damage.