Cleanup efforts are finally beginning at the CTS of Asheville Superfund site on Mills Gap Road, but past controversies and a lack of trust in Environmental Protection Agency officials continued to dominate the discussion during a Nov. 30 public meeting to review the impending remedial projects and address residents’ concerns.
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.
Toxic legacy: CTS site breeds heartache for residents
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.
When will cleanup begin at the contaminated CTS site on Mills Gap Road? According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s project manager for the Superfund site— 2016.
The 74 homes in Southside Village are not part of the CTS of Asheville Superfund site next door, say several residents of the gated community off Mills Gap Road. In two recent letters, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency backs up that assessment, saying it “does not believe contamination associated with the CTS of Asheville Superfund Site poses unacceptable risk to residents of SSV.”
It’s a “nightmare scenario” for residents living near or on land associated with the former CTS site south of Asheville on Mills Gap Road, according to a Dec. 29 Associated Press story that ran in the Charlotte Observer (“An Old Plant, tainted Land, and Worried Homeowners”). The story takes particular aim at the developers who purchased the more […]
The struggle to clean up the long-shuttered CTS manufacturing site on Mills Gap Road in South Asheville continues this Tuesday evening, July 29, with a town hall meeting organized by one of the community groups involved in the case — the POWER Action Group.
At its meeting this evening, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners gave their approval to the formation of the African-American Heritage Commission and voted to extend city water to people living near the contaminated former CTS of Asheville site.
About 50 people gathered at the Skyland Fire Department this afternoon to see an in-depth WLOS report on the contaminated former CTS of Asheville site. Many, residents of the Mills Gap Road area, have lived with the specter of the nearby pollution for more than a decade. They expressed their hope for a clean-up, an investigation into the Environmental Protection Agency’s handling of the matter and renewed pressure on legislators.
Residents of the Mills Gap Road area, who live near the contaminated former CTS of Asheville site will hold a viewing of WLOS’ hour-long investigative report on the issue this afternoon. The residents, many active for years in bringing attention to the problem, will renew their call for accountability from the Environmental Protection Agency and a full clean-up.
The CTS Corporation has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking it to overturn a June ruling from a federal appeals court that would allow 23 local citizens to go forward with a their lawsuit demanding compensation and cleanup of the company’s contaminated former Asheville site.
The U.S. Fourth Circuit of Appeals has ruled in favor of 23 local citizens pressing to get CTS Corp. to clean up the contaminated site on Mills Gap Road in south Asheville and compensate affected homeowners.
When Tate MacQueen drove past the former CTS of Asheville plant recently on his way home, a for-sale sign caught his eye. The 8.3-acre parcel on offer was originally part of the nearly 60-acre CTS property — some of which was designated a Superfund site last year.
For years, people living near the contaminated former CTS of Asheville site have asked to be placed on city water. Extremely high levels of trichloroethylene, a known carcinogen, have repeatedly been found in some Mills Gap residents’ wells. On Sept. 25, Asheville City Council unanimously approved extending water lines to all 129 households within a mile of the site.
Asheville City Council members approved extending city water to residents near the contaminated former CTS of Asheville site at their Sept. 25 meeting.
Follow live Twitter coverage of tonights’ Asheville City Council meeting, beginning at 5 p.m.
At its meeting tonight, September 25, Asheville City Council will consider extending city water to residents living near the contaminated former CTS of Asheville site and authorizing a deal for a private company to manage the municipal golf course, among other matters.
Tomorrow night, Asheville City Council will consider a deal with Buncombe County to provide municipal water to 129 households around the former CTS of Asheville site, where groundwater contamination remains an ongoing problem.
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)
A notebook of recovered documents may show how federal officials mishandled a contaminated site on Mills Gap Road in 1999, say a group of residents who held a press conference at the federal building in downtown Asheville today, May 23. (photos by Bill Rhodes)
