U.S. IS RULED LIABLE IN TOXIC WASTE CASE

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 26, 1992                   TAG: 9202260243
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: PHILADELPHIA                                LENGTH: Short
U.S. IS RULED LIABLE IN TOXIC WASTE CASE
The government must help pay for cleaning up hazardous waste at a Virginia plant where rayon was produced for Jeep and airplane tires during World War II, a federal judge has ruled.
Last week's ruling said the government essentially ran the plant from 1942 through 1945.
Waste basins at the now-idle Avtex Fibers plant in Front Royal, Va., are tainted with carbon disulfide, used in rayon production, as well as lead, zinc, mercury and other elements. The site was put on the Superfund list by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1986.
U.S. District Judge Clarence C. Newcomer heard the trial last fall and made his ruling Feb. 19. A second trial will determine each party's share of the bill. - Associated Press

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB