Avtex Fibers, Inc.

The Avtex plant, on 440 acres along the Shenandoah River, manufactured rayon for tires during World War II and rocket nozzle parts for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in the 1970s-80s. The company's permit to discharge into the Shenandoah River was revoked on Nov. 10, 1989 and the plant was thereafter abandoned, with significant quantities of extremely hazardous materials left on site.

From the guide to the Avtex Fibers, Inc. Newsclippings, 1989-1999, (Special Collections, James Madison University)