NATION IN BRIEF : VIRGINIA : $6.15-Million Fine Levied for Pollution
A Richmond Circuit Court judge fined a firm that was once the nation’s largest rayon maker $6.15 million for polluting the Shenandoah River with toxic PCBs. The fine against Avtex Fibers was the largest civil penalty for an environmental violation ever imposed in Virginia. The rayon factory closed Nov. 10, a day after its industrial-discharge permit was revoked. State and federal environmental officials have been at the plant since the shutdown, supervising the start of a hazardous waste cleanup of PCBs, polluted ground water and tons of toxic chemicals that is expected to take a decade or more and cost up to $40 million.
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