South Asheville residents are up in arms about the CTS scare. They continue to plead with the Buncombe County Commissioners for larger panels of higher-ranking officials. Some even want to send a resolution to the president of the United States. Chemists with the EPA say they need more time to investigate. Residents are convinced there was no tampering with groundwater, and cancer and other disease in the area is a direct consequence of the electroplating facility leaving plumes of trichlorethylene in the ground. Some of the commissioners thought another powwow would be futile.
Well, this isn’t the first time Asheville activists have gotten excited about plumes of trichlorethylene contaminating groundwater. The Sayles Bleachery site was rumored to have left di-, tri, and perchlorethylene plumes. Wal*Mart was recruited to build on the land because the large corporation had funds for cleanup that the state and federal government didn’t.
Then again, maybe the whole CTS thing is a ruse to get badly-needed buy-in for a new super Wal*Mart.
