For nearly 30 years, the CTS of Asheville Superfund site has been a source of physical and social toxicity for the surrounding community. With remedial efforts to address the source of contamination finally underway, residents, activists and others reflect on the triumphs and tribulations of the decades-long battle for a clean-up and accountability.
A group of innovative strategies collectively known as “in situ remediation” could dramatically improve the prospects for addressing groundwater and soil contamination at several local hazardous waste sites more quickly and at lower cost.
With the EPA set to implement a new remediation strategy at the CTS of Asheville Superfund site this year, some residents and public officials are cautiously hopeful that the long-standing issues might finally be addressed. Others continue to lobby federal authorities to hold the EPA accountable for past missteps and speed up the remediation process.
Lee Ann Smith’s and Tate MacQueen’s methods may differ, but their aim is the same: help their south Buncombe friends, families and neighbors obtain clean air and water. (photo of Gabe Dunsmith and Lee Ann Smith by Bill Rhodes)
With asbestos abatement completed, a Buncombe County contractor began demolishing the former CTS of Asheville plant in south Asheville earlier this month. But while neighbors of the derelict structure have applauded the move as a long-overdue first step in cleaning up the contaminated site, resident Tate MacQueen, who’s played a key role in efforts to […]
On Thursday, April 14, Environmental Protection Agency officials hosted another in a long series of community meetings about the contaminated CTS site in south Asheville. Just a few weeks ago, the EPA had announced that the vacant Mills Gap Road property was being proposed for the National Priorities List (aka the Superfund program). But with a final decision not coming till September, the EPA convened the April 14 meeting to report what resources are available to local residents. Photo by Katie Damien.
North Carolina legislators may soon appoint a committee charged with investigating how the state environmental agency has handled the contaminated CTS site in Asheville. On April 11, the N.C. House adopted a resolution (HB 186) that calls for creating a “house select committee” for the issue. Rep. Tim Moffitt, Republican, was the primary sponsor. For the full text of the resolution…
The document referenced in “State Health Assessment Finds Most CTS Neighbors Not at Risk” [March 2 Xpress] is a slap in the face to Arden residents by Sandy Mort of N.C. Health and Human Services. People who live near the abandoned CTS site have dealt with life-threatening maladies for years from contaminants such as vinyl […]
The document referenced in “Flu Who? State Health Assessment Finds Most CTS Neighbors Not at Risk” (March 2 Xpress) is a 146-page slap-in-the-face to area residents by Sandy Mort of North Carolina Health and Human Services. People who live near the abandoned CTS site in Arden have dealt with life-threatening maladies for years from contaminants […]
Photo by Jonathan Welch
Residents who live near the contaminated former CTS facility on Mills Gap Road have waited for years for cleanup, and as the time draws closer for EPA’s review of the site for inclusion on the National Priorities List (which would place it among the most severely contaminated sites in the U.S.), residents have decided to wait no longer. A group of 16 individuals and families filed suit against the Elkhart, Ind.-based corporation yesterday in federal court. Complainants include Tate MacQueen, spokesperson with the advocacy group Citizen’s Monitoring Council, which has worked to get the issue noticed and addressed, and Lee Ann Smith, whose young sons were treated for cancer after they were exposed to high levels of contaminants in a stream flowing from the CTS property near their home.
Today, a resident of the Mills Gap Road area showed Xpress reporters busted barrels at the border of the contaminated former CTS of Asheville site, which he asserts may point to chemical dumping responsible for groundwater contamination in the area.
Photo by Jonathan Welch
The CTS/Mills Gap Road property just moved one step closer to being named a Superfund site: Today, Sept. 1, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it’s “moving forward” with the process to add the former electroplating plant to its National Priorities List of hazardous-waste sites.
