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The judge delayed making a judgment on the case earlier this month until he had viewed the plant operations himself on June 13. Impressed by the magnitude of the problems at the plant, the judge requested a timetable for making the repairs and financial information to determine the company’s ability to pay for them.
The Avtex attorney requested that if the judge were to find the company in contempt, that he modify the existing order so that it would not automatically be imposed.
Clean up: $14 million
The company estimates that the total cost of repairs necessary to comply with the consent decree and other mandated clean-up projects would reach $14 million, an amount the company does not have, according to Fitzhugh Wickham, vice president of operations at Avtex.
Repairs include short-term measures necessary to prevent process contaminations from reaching the storm sewer. Those measures include the installation of spill prevention equipment, alarms, level controls, monitors,» and automatic shutoffs. Also necessary is the repair of the acid reclaim floors in order to prevent contaminants from leaking through the floors to groundwater and the sewer line.
With the newly-structured plant, the amount of repair costs would decrease to $9 million.
“We vastly simplified the operation,” explained Richard H. Hughes, vice president of administration at Avtex.
Changes in the company
The company will continue to produce specialized yarns for military, space program and medical use as well as polypropylene fibers used in disposable diaper products.
The production of commodity fibers will be drastically reduced and the manufacture of high wet modulus fibers, used by the clothing industry, will be eliminated.
Employment at the plant has been reduced to 706 workers.
"We will serve only a handful of customers," said Hughes. “We will no longer try to compete in a world-wide market for broad-based products."
The State Water Control Board, however, speculated that the cost of making repairs for a new permit would range from $8 million-$15 million. In addition, the company did not address the cost of repairs and violations before the State Air Control Board and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Reliability questioned
Deputy Attorney General R. Claire Guthrie, representing the State Water Control Board,
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