The Environmental Protection Agency failed to find contamination promptly, adequately address its cleanup or communicate effectively with residents affected by air and water contamination from a former industrial plant near Asheville, according to a stinging report released last week by an independent office of the EPA. Warning: A sign near the contaminated former CTS of […]
Tag: CTS of Asheville
Showing 43-63 of 88 results
EPA inspector general blasts agency’s handling of CTS site
A report released today by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of the Inspector General strongly criticizes the agency’s response to contamination at the former CTS of Asheville site. The report asserts that while testing standards were followed, limited oversight, along with poor record-keeping and communication, harmed the effort and failed to communicate the hazards to the public.
CTS neighbors call for clean-up, reparations and investigation of government agencies’ behavior
At a press conference tonight, activists called for: excavating contaminated soil; bringing city water to the area; a congressional investigation; the state to investigate NCDENR’s role in cleanup; adding the original plant site to the federal Superfund list (while removing the Rice property from that list); and for compensation of the Rice and Robinson families.
CTS activists set up fund for independent water testing
Residents of the Mills Gap Road area have set up a fund to pay for independent soil, water and vapor testing near the contaminated former CTS of Asheville site.
Buncombe Commissioners brief: grants, taxes (and prayer)
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners kept its Feb. 2 meeting short, authorizing tax collections, passing grants and, in closed session, discussing the contentious issue of its meeting prayer (though they took no action on that item).
Resident near CTS site takes case to YouTube
A resident of the Chapel Hill Church Road area, located less than a mile from the contaminated former CTS of Asheville site, has taken the case for putting residents of the area on municipal water to the public, with a 3-minute YouTube video outlining her plea.
CTS of Asheville contamination
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 […]
CTS health study: lead found in area, but low risk of contamination spreading
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services released a health assessment today of the area surrounding the contaminated former CTS of Asheville site. The study declares that there is no elevated rates of cancer in a 1-mile radius, and little risk of contamination spreading, but also declares that new harmful substances such as lead have been found in the area.
State will release health study on CTS contamination Jan. 19
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will release the results of a health assessment of residents living near the contaminated former CTS of Asheville site next week, both online and in a public forum, according to an announcement from the county health department.
Asheville City Council preview: Of master plans and development
Tomorrow is the last meeting of the current Asheville City Council, but among many other agenda items, they’ll begin discussion on one of the Downtown Master Plan‘s most controversial recommendations: reducing Council’s authority over large downtown development.
Buncombe Commissioners brief: Nov. 17 meeting
After a tense public hearing that saw one person thrown out of the chambers, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners reinstated countywide zoning in a 4-1 vote.
Asheville City Council brief: Oct. 27 meeting
Transit Master Plan in city’s hands, and CTS neighbors hint at voluntary annexation
The Green Scene: Feds ineffective on Mills Gap Road contamination
Despite lying less than a half-mile from a contamination source that’s been under investigation since the 1990s, the Bradley family’s drinking well had never been tested when David Bradley noticed some folks drilling across the street from his South Asheville home on a mid-August day this year. On the move? Historical and more recent data […]
Asheville City Council preview: May 12 meeting
Master Plan, CTS and parking rates crowd Tuesday’s agenda.
Commissioners consider budget, order letter calling for CTS cleanup
At its May 5 meeting, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners reviewed its tight budget — with $5.9 million in proposed cuts — and also asked its lawyers to draft a letter to Gov. Bev Perdue calling for action on cleaning up the contaminated CTS of Asheville site.
Buncombe County Commissioners preview: contamination and crime edition
At their meeting Tuesday, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will hear from the Environmental Protection Agency and county staff about the state of the heavily contaminated former CTS of Asheville site. They may also hear from citizens and activists angered about the local, state and federal governments’ handling of the situation.
State will pursue deal with CTS on polluted site; activists angered
The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources will pursue voluntary remediation on the contaminated CTS of Asheville site. Local activists have attacked the move, asserting it will leave taxpayers paying for the cleanup and slow any action.
Buncombe Commissioners
Commissioners instruct URTV to follow open-meetings law Arden resident Aaron Penland has a problem with the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, and at their Feb. 3 meeting, he made his feelings plain. “In the last election, all we heard is, ‘Change is coming, change is coming.’ Well, how long will it take to have this […]
The Green Scene
Government agencies—not to mention Congress—are great at saying a task will take one month and then having it take six, U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler observed during a Dec. 8. congressional hearing on the former CTS of Asheville site. On hand at the Skyland Fire Department were representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency, the N.C. Division […]
Buncombe Commissioners
Time to televise public comment? County staff: no new CTS contamination It was the new Buncombe County Board of Commissioners’ first meeting. Newcomers K. Ray Bailey (the former president of A-B Tech) and Holly Jones, (late of the Asheville City Council) had been sworn in the day before, along with new Chair David Gantt. (Although […]
Shuler holds hearing on CTS contamination
Shuler called a hearing on groundwater contamination at the CTS site in Asheville, bringing a bit of Washington to town by holding the hearing at the Skyland Fire Department on Monday.