In 1999, neighbors living adjacent to former electroplating facility called CTS of Asheville discovered an oily substance in their drinking water. When the Environmental Protection Agency responded, they found levels of trichloroethylene, a toxic substance and suspected carcinogen, at 21,000 parts per billion: more than 4,000 times the safe standard for potable water.
Those neighbors have since switched to the city water supply, but the source — groundwater contamination that persists beneath the CTS site — has not been adequately addressed, according to some critics. A system designed to remove hazardous vapors from the soil was installed at the site in 2006, but contamination levels in the neighboring spring have measured higher in recent testing than previously detected.
“Despite being entered into the state’s superfund program in the early ‘90s, very little cleanup has been accomplished,” wrote Hartwell Carson, RiverLink’s French Broad Riverkeeper, in a Sept. 6 letter to Rep. Heath Shuler.
What follows is just a few of the hundreds of pages of documentation regarding the CTS of Asheville site.
This page from a 1991 Environmental Protection Agency study summarizes the agency’s findings at the CTS of Asheville plant on Mills Gap Road in south Asheville. The final sentence, recommending “no further remedial action,” may seem perplexing, given the hazardous chemicals listed. According to the EPA, this evaluation was done to determine whether the site should be placed on the National Priorities List—a roster of the worst hazardous-waste sites in the nation. Based on sampling results, CTS of Asheville did not make the cut.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
This October 2007 letter from attorney William Clarke to the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners outlines the clean-up action at the former CTS site. Clarke represents Mills Gap Road Associates, which bought the property from CTS Corporation in 1987.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
This November 2007 letter from the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Division of Waste Management to the chairman of the board of the CTS Corporation explains that hazardous substances from the site were released into the environment. The letter demands a full site assessment and outlines what’s required. The state says in the letter that “the Division considers the Site to be a high priority for assessment.”
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
This December 2007 letter from attorney William Clarke to attorney Gary Davis discusses details of Mills Gap Road Associates acquiring the former CTS property.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
This is attorney Gary Davis’ letter in response to attorney William Clarke’s letter regarding the sale of the former CTS property to The Biltmore Group.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
This is an August 1998 “notice of inactive hazardous substance or waste disposal site” from the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources to John Powell of law firm Powell & Deutsch.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
This is an August 1998 letter from the law firm Powell & Deutsch to the Superfund Section of the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources regarding a plat of the property.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
This is a December 1997 letter from the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources to Mills Gap Road Associates, the owner of the former CTS plant property, notifying Mills Gap Road Associates that the state deems the property an inactive hazardous substance or waste disposal site.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
This May 1998 letter from the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources is a notification to Mills Gap Road Associates that the owner of the former CTS plant property had not yet responded to an order from the state requiring the group to submit and record a notice of inactive hazardous substance or waste disposal site.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
This April 1995 letter from the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources is a response to questions from Stan Greenburg, a member of the Mills Gap Road Associates and the owner of the former CTS plant site property. The letter lists concerns about concentrations of chemicals found in soil and surface water samples. “Due to these concerns, the site must remain on the Inactive Hazardous Sites Inventory until further investigation is conducted to determine the degree and extent of contamination at the site,” the letter states.
Click here to download a PDF of the document.
This document contains background and history on the former CTS plant site. Click here to download a PDF of the document.
This document is a map of the former CTS plant site. Click here to download a PDF of the document.
This fact sheet and frequently asked questions handout were distributed to residents living nearby the former CTS of Asheville site at an informational meeting held July 17, 2008, by the state Division of Waste Management. The Division is responsible for overseeing the remediation at CTS, a hazardous-waste site that is the source of ground-water contamination.
Click here to download a PDF of the FAQ. Click here to download a PDF of the fact sheet.
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It is very important to make note of the fact that the report referred to in 1991, did not test groundwater (excepting a single well 8/10ths of a mile away). The groundwater component of that report, which is a key for National Priority Listing and consideration, depended on the data of that single well, which did not show contamination. The peculiarity of that evaluation and of that report is that it neglected information known by NCDENR as early as 1990, about possible contamination of a neighboring well. This is not mention the facts that there were many folks on well and spring water hundreds of feet away and within a half mile of the plant. A feature of that report (whose summary page is posted as a pdf file) is that it referred to to the “nearest potable drink water source is 4,000 feet away.” This is incorrect and a most glaring way. So, the evaluation, done not by EPA officials, per se, but by a private contractor (NUS Halliburton), was a recommendation by a company that did not do its job. This, in itself, gives impetus, for a re-evaluation for NPL consideration that would force the responsible parties to clean up the point source of the contamination, which is so critical with respect to trichloroethylene and its intractability as a a fouler of the water table. |
Barry Durand Mar 13, 2008 |
