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By DAPHNE HUTCHINSON
Rappahannock Nmra Staff Writer
The smells that waft over the mountain are not the only “gift” Front Royal sends to Rappahannock County. Chemicals released by town plants into the air add to acid rain, “the invisible poison” that now falls on every state east of the Mississippi River, according to Jim Northup.
Northup, a naturalist at Shenandoah National Park, the county’s only resident chimney sweep and vicepresident of the Rappahannock League for Environmental Protection, addressed the threat posed by acid rain at RLEP’s quarterly meeting held December 7.
In the manufacture of rayon, Avtex’s viscose plant in Front Royal uses sulphuric acid and releases sulphur dioxide into the air, making it a “particular offender” jn adding to local levels of acid rain, Northup said.
"The problem is just beginning to affect our area,” Northup noted. He reported rainfalls in Piedmont Virginia with acid levels ten times that of normal rain.
The Appalachian area, with its naturally acidic, thin soil covering over solid rock, is particularly sensitive to acid rain, Northup continued. He relayed concern felt by Shenandoah Park biologists who are currently monitoring rain for acid levels.
Northup described acid rain as one of the most difficult environmental problems to deal with. "It has no taste and no odor. For years, we’ve seen its effects without knowing the cause.”
According to Northup, acid rain is directly related to emissions, particularly nitrates and sulphur dioxide coming from two primary sources—utility companies and automobiles. “That’s two things very dear to Anterican hearts: cheap energy and our cars.”
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