After producing the first skein of acetate on November 1, 1929 to make Rayon, the worlds’ first synthetic fiber, the DuPont Waynesboro plant helped Waynesboro evolve into a major Valley manufacturing town.  Through 1958, the Waynesboro DuPont plant specialized in the manufacturing of cellulose acetate flake.  In later years, Orlon Lycra, Nomex, Vespel, Permasep and Nylon were manufactured, and the plant employed more than 10,000 Waynesboro and Valley residents.  In 1986, DuPont deeded the land for Constitution Park to the City of Waynesboro, the current home of the City’s Arboretum and Virginia’s first Urban Trout Fishery.  In 2004, Koch Industries purchased the DuPont Waynesboro plant and now the plant operates as INVISTA and manufacturers Lycra.  Since 2001, a group of representatives from DuPont, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the Virginia Department of Health, the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, academia, and local environmental groups have been working together to focus on solving environmental challenges associated with historical releases of mercury during the Rayon production at the DuPont Waynesboro plant. Today, the group, the South River Science Team, these actions are capable of interrupting, eliminating or