City and county partner for waterline extension

At an April 7 Buncombe County Board of Commissioner’s meeting, it was announced that the drinking wells of several families living in The Oaks subdivision in south Asheville had tested positive for low levels of trichloroethylene, an industrial solvent. It is the same chemical that has been identified as the primary ground-water pollutant at the former CTS of Asheville plant, a hazardous-waste site located nearby the subdivision.

In their respective meetings on Tuesday, Buncombe County Board of Commissioners and Asheville City Council voted to form a partnership to streamline the extension of a municipal waterline that would serve that neighborhood. County commissioners voted unanimously to allocate $220,000 to cover the cost of materials and supplies needed for the waterline installation, while Asheville City Council unanimously approved more than $100,000 in fee waivers and expenses that will be absorbed by the water resources department by performing the work with an in-house crew.

Construction has been scheduled to begin as soon as possible, with an expected start date of June 2. Officials estimate the project will take about 12 weeks and that water service will be in the subdivision by Sept. 1, according to a joint press release from the city and county.

“This joint city/county effort is the right thing to do for these citizens and we are very appreciative that the city is making this happen so quickly,” said Board of Commissioners Chairman Nathan Ramsey.

Meanwhile, county officials are in the process of developing policy guidelines to determine when it is appropriate to extend public water service where ground-water contamination has been identified. A staff recommendation for this policy should be coming out in the next few months.

— Rebecca Bowe, contributing editor

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

One thought on “City and county partner for waterline extension

  1. djresteep

    no word, though, on who is responsible for dealing with the currently polluted wells? And if they would then be responsible for paying for this addition infrastructure?

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.