Abt Global’s staff conducted an evaluation of groundwater conditions and contaminants migration as at the Avtex Fibers Superfund Site, a former rayon-manufacturing facility.

Groundwater at the site is contaminated with elevated levels of carbon disulfide and metals, such as arsenic. The site is on highly fractured shale, and the contaminants have migrated along fracture planes in the bedrock beneath the South Fork of the Shenandoah River to reach residential wells on the opposite side of the river.

The project involved assessing the mechanisms of contaminant migration by evaluating the influence of geologic controls, hydraulic gradients, interaction with the river, and historical and current pumping conditions. Abt staff helped design several field data collection efforts, including hydrologic and chemical investigations of the waste viscose basins, installation and geophysical logging of additional wells to depths of 600 feet, and a pilot-scale pumping test to further evaluate groundwater conditions within the plume. The conceptual understanding of plume migration was used to develop and evaluate remedial alternatives for groundwater and surface water at the site.