Public Meeting Thursday

EPA Public Meeting

Skyland Fire Dept.

Thurs. Jan. 31^st, 6:30pm

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will update residents on recent sampling at the former CTS plant. Independent testing last summer showed groundwater around the site is still contaminated, prompting federal, state and local officials to perform additional testing to determine the contamination’s extent. Officials with the EPA, NC Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and the Buncombe County Health Dept. will:

• Discuss results of the additional well, soil and vapor testing;
• Provide information and answer questions about recent sampling related to the site, and
• Provide an update on enforcement actions

(taken from Asheville Citizen-Times.)

For more information, call Sherryl A. Carbonaro, EPA community involvement coordinator, at 678-575-7355.

Distributed by the Alliance for Environmental Safety: Safe Air, Water and Soil Quality in Buncombe County!

Current Activities
From November 27, 2007 to December 7, 2008, North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR), Division of Waste Management, through a cooperative agreement with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, sampled 66 residential wells within a one-mile radius of the former CTS Corporation plant on Mills Gap Road (a map of sampling locations can be found in the documents section). Some of the wells served multiple households. The site, currently owned by Mills Gap Road Associates, is an EPA Time Critical Removal.

Of the 66 wells sampled, one active well showed the presence of Trichloroethylene (TCE) in excess of EPA Maximum Contaminant Limits (MCLs). The well located approximately ¾ of a mile northeast of the site, and TCE was measured at 57 micrograms/liter (parts per billion). The MCL is 5 micrograms/liter for TCE. The sampling also detected trace quantities (10.2 micrograms/liter) of cis 1,2-Dichlorethylene, a breakdown product of TCE.


The EPA OSC used his delegated warrant authority to provide bottled water to the affected residence. This substantial threat was documented in an Action Memorandum. EPA re-tested the well in question. The second set of sampling confirmed the presence of TCE at the level indicated by the original testing.

Three separate residential wells had very low levels of chloroform detected in them. One residential well had a trace amount of chloromethane detected in it. These compounds are not associated with existing data from groundwater contamination at the site. The formation of disinfection byproducts is a plausible explanation for their presence in low quantities. The analysis for one residential well detected toluene, which is a common solvent used in paint thinners and paint removers. All of these detections are below Federal Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs). While petroleum products have been associated with the CTS site, the multiple petroleum products most commonly found in springs asscociated with flow from the CTS site were noticably absent from the samples.

NCDENR identified all active residential wells in the immediate area of the contaminated well. On January 8, 2008, NCDENR tested eight wells which had not been tested in the November-December sampling event. Of these six additional wells tested, one well, located immediately east of the contaminated well, also contained TCE, though in a quantity below the MCL. No contaminants were detected in the other seven wells.

One well taken out of service in 1999 was resampled as a basis for comparison to historical data. Testing re-confirmed the presence of TCE in that well.

Planned Removal Actions
EPA will continue to work with the affected resident to ensure a safe drinking water supply. NCDENR will conduct additional soil sampling near the contaminated well to ascertain if there is a localized contamination source.

EPA has commenced a vapor intrusion study, a soil gas survey, soil sampling through borings. NCDENR has taken surficial soil samples and surface water samples. These studies will be documented in separate Polreps and/or START letter reports.

Next Steps
EPA will coordinate with the Buncombe County Health Center, who will act as a liaison to the municipal water authority. The feasiblility of connection to public water supply for the resident with contaminated water will be evaluated.

Key Issues
Groundwater tends to flow parallel to stream valleys in this section of North Carolina. The geology and topography do not immediately suggest that contamination would extend from the CTS site across the general direction of flow previously observed. However, the newly discovered contamination occurs in a deep well, and current groundwater characterization is not sufficient to make definitive conclusions about source.