Washington, D.C. – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) alerted U.S. Representative Heath Shuler (D-Waynesville) today that two preliminary tests of a previously untested drinking well in the Mills Gap area show elevated levels of the chemical compound known as trichloroethylene (TCE). This compound has been associated with the contamination of several wells near the former CTS electroplating facility off of Mills Gap Road. Exposure to and consumption of TCE at certain levels can pose a threat to human health.
Since early 2008, Shuler has been working with Mills Gap residents and the appropriate federal and state agencies to improve communication and press for a cleanup of this Superfund site in south Buncombe County. EPA has taken the lead in providing previously affected residents in this area with bottled water. Dozens of residents with contaminated drinking water have been connected to municipal water service. EPA has conducted multiple rounds of testing of private wells in the area near the CTS facility. Property owners of the two wells in question had been approached by EPA in the past, but had declined to have their wells tested until earlier this month.
Rep. Heath Shuler has advocated for ongoing testing of residential wells in the area to monitor any movement of TCE in the groundwater that could result in additional wells being contaminated. “While I will continue to work for a full cleanup of the CTS site, the most urgent priority is to make sure that families in this area are not exposed to TCE in their drinking water in the meantime,” explained Shuler. “I made it very clear to the EPA last year that periodic testing of wells in this neighborhood must continue for the foreseeable future. I am pleased so far with the plan they developed in response to this request, and I want to encourage residents who are approached by the EPA to give them access to their wells for testing.”
Shuler was assured by EPA officials that the residents who have been using the newly tested well have already been provided safe bottled drinking water. Also of concern to Shuler is the effect that the contamination in this well will have on EPA’s ongoing assessment of the CTS site’s eligibility for the National Priority List (NPL). Only a handful of the most dangerously contaminated sites across the country are added to the NPL each year. These sites are eligible for expedited cleanup by the EPA.
“If the results of these preliminary tests enhance this site’s chances of getting on the National Priority List, then it is imperative that they be given full consideration by the EPA in the NPL scoring process,” Rep. Shuler said.
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