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Plastic pipe debris from Silver-Line Plastics ended up strewn along French Broad River • Asheville Watchdog

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avlwatchdog.org – JOHN BOYLE and VICTORIA A. IFATUSIN – 2024-11-12 06:00:00

Drive along the French Broad River from Asheville to Marshall, or even farther, and you’ll quickly notice a recurring sight among the ubiquitous debris clogging the river banks: white plastic piping.

Varying in diameter and usually about 10 feet in length, the pipes are stuck in downed trees, wedged into the river’s islands, sometimes even rammed into the riverbed itself. Literally thousands of them remain in the French Broad six weeks after Tropical Storm Helene sent a record-breaking deluge of water down the river, sweeping away buildings and much of the stock of the Silver-Line Plastics plant at 900 Riverside Drive.

Hartwell Carson, the French Broad riverkeeper with the MountainTrue environmental organization in Asheville, says all it takes is one drive down the river to spot thousands of the pipes.

Hartwell Carson, MountainTrue’s riverkeeper for the French Broad River, surveys damage shortly after Helene’s flooding. // Watchdog photo by Victoria A. Ifatusin

“And that is definitely a concern, and something that we’re trying to push them on to commit to cleaning up,” Carson said.

Silver-Line says it has hired a company to clean up the pipes, which have traveled at least as far as past Hot Springs. The French Broad starts in Transylvania County and travels north through Henderson, Buncombe and Madison counties and into Tennessee.

Carson said MountainTrue has written a letter to the company requesting the plant’s plan to clean up its materials left in the river. 

“The trash is a real problem, and it needs a real solution,” he said.

Carson said that there could be long-term environmental and health implications if Silver-Line cannot remove all the pipes from the river.

“They (the pipes) can break down over time and release microplastics, which aren’t biodegradable and hard to get rid of once in the body, creating an environmental concern to aquatic life and health concern to humans,” Carson said, noting that microplastics will get into the food chain, and eventually humans. “It also gets in our drinking water; it’s also in the air.”

More than six weeks after Tropical Storm Helene, white plastic piping is a common sight along the French Broad River. // Watchdog photo by Starr Sariego

Located on the east side of the river on more than 36 acres, the Silver-Line Plastics factory is hard to miss. Before the storm, its neatly stacked inventory covered much of the exterior of the manufacturing and distribution site.

Former Asheville City Council Member Marc Hunt, who is also an avid kayaker and river advocate, says the debris has “a hugely negative impact on the scenery,” but it’s also going to have an economic impact.

“People just don’t like to recreate or enjoy a river that is cluttered with trash and debris,” Hunt said. “And I know there’s other debris, but the pipes really stand out.”

The issue goes beyond aesthetics and economics, Hunt and Carson say. It’s also a serious safety concern for paddlers and tubers, who often use the French Broad during the warmer months. Buncombe County’s Ledges Whitewater Park, a popular kayaking spot, is just a few miles downstream from Silver-Line.

Foot or leg entrapment for boaters and tubers is a serious safety concern, and can even lead to drowning. Hunt has kayaked the French Broad post-Helene, and he’s found multiple dangerous areas. 

“I’ve observed numerous places where the pipe is in the current channel of the river, and when pipe lodges among rocks in the river, there are gaps that are formed underneath the pipe, and  between pipes and rocks,” Hunt said. “And if someone happens to be in the river swimming, accidentally or not, they can get a leg or a foot or even an arm caught in that place and be pinned and held underwater as a result. There’s significant potential here for safety hazards to exist.”

Silver-Line: ‘We’ve been actively working’ to clean it up

A company called IPEX owns Silver-Line Plastics. IPEX spokesperson Anastasia Georgakakos said the Asheville facility, which employs 304 people, was “severely impacted” by Helene.

A pile of white piping sits on the property of the Silver-Line Plastics plant at 900 RIverside Drive in Asheville. // Watchdog photo by Starr Sariego

Georgakakos said via email that the company was not aware of any chemical contamination that got into the river from the plant.

“In terms of the raw materials stored in our plant, while we are currently assessing, we are not aware of any leakage of materials external to our plant,” Georgakakos said.

“Since conditions have allowed, we’ve been actively working to clean up our site and continue to make progress,” Georgakakos said.

The company is also working to clean up the pipes and tubing swept downriver.

“Along with our on-site work, we remain focused on the collection and secure containment of any scattered pipe and other materials that washed off-property,” Georgakakos said. “We have deployed both in-person teams and barges along the French Broad River to collect any materials, including pipes washed downstream.”

Georgakakos said Nov. 8 that the company has “experienced challenges due to low water levels in the river.

“Additionally, many PVC pipe deposits identified along the riverbanks are on private property, including areas owned by the railroad, and access to those areas must be arranged,” she said.

The company does not have a specific timeline for cleanup, Georgakakos said, noting that IPEX is working with “a number of reputable vendors to assist with the clean-up process.”

Thousands of white PVC pipes from Silver-Line Plastics remain in the French Broad River, weeks after the Sept. 27 flood caused by Tropical Storm Helene. The company has hired a contractor to clean up the pipe. Meanwhile, river advocates say pipes in the river are not only unsightly but also can pose a safety hazard by entrapping the feet of paddlers or tubers. // Photo provided by Marc Hunt

IPEX also continues “to collaborate with local and federal government authorities including the U.S. EPA to ensure a smooth recovery,” Georgakakos said. “We remain focused on restoring our operations safely and efficiently, while also supporting the recovery of the broader community.”

Josh Kastrinsky, spokesperson for the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, said the DEQ and the Environmental Protection Agency received calls regarding concerns about the Silver-Line plant affecting water quality or discharging materials into the river that ended up in mud that inundated Marshall in Madison County, about 20 miles downstream.

“On two occasions, on-scene response teams visited the cleanup areas and spoke directly with the callers,” Kastrinsky said. “Complainants did not have direct knowledge of a chemical release or of anybody experiencing symptoms of exposure.”

Further, Kastrinsky said, “DEQ and EPA staff spoke with local law enforcement and people in the area and could not substantiate any specific reports of contamination or chemical burns. Since there was not a clear area of concern, samples were not collected.”

Debris from the Silver-Libne Plastics plant clogs the shore of the French Broad River near Marshall. // Watchdog photo by Starr Sariego

DEQ permitting records state Silver-Line is not listed as a hazardous waste generator. The company has an air permit with the local air program in Buncombe County and did not have significant quantities of hazardous chemicals, so Silver-Line was not subject to the Clean Air Act. 

The facility indicated some fuel oil, plastic flake, propane tanks and large quantities of PVC pipes were released during the flood. The site is being treated as a debris area by the Division of Waste Management in line with other facilities that experienced damage.

Complex system for river cleanup

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is often tasked with maintenance and debris removal in rivers. David Connelly, a spokesperson for the Corps, explained how the system works in these types of disasters.

“Obviously the Silver-Line Plastics debris is an issue and is definitely on the radar; however, it is just one part of the estimated 10,445,000 cubic yards of debris across 27 counties in Western North Carolina we are working on,” Connelly said via email.

In responses to disasters like Helene, Connelly said the Corps “provides supplemental support to state and federal efforts when tasked by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

In addition to white PVC pipes, coils of flexible black tubing also inundated the French Broad River after the Sept. 27 flood hit the Silver-Line Plastics facility on Riverside Drive. // Photo provided by Marc Hunt

“Currently, we are working several taskings from FEMA primarily concerning the areas of debris removal and temporary water solutions across western North Carolina,” Connelly said.

Typically, concerns get routed through counties when they’ve exceeded their capacity to handle an issue, and their requests go to the state. If the state can’t help, counties may then ask the federal government for help.

The state prioritizes the task, and if it’s something the Corps can help with, it will be assigned the task by FEMA. This process can take months.

“In the area of debris specifically, there are significant amounts of vegetative, demolition and other debris in the rights of way and waterways in counties throughout western North Carolina that will require a months-long effort and involve state/local contracted debris removal and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contracts,” Connelly said. “Access into damaged areas remains a challenge due to debris, road and bridge closures.”

Hunt and Carson both noted that retrieving the pipes will not be an easy task.

Equipment can be brought into some areas along the river that have road or railroad access. But in some places, the debris is on the opposite side of the French Broad or located in more remote sections of the river, making cleanup challenging. 

“I think boots on the ground is probably the way to do it,” Carson said. “And we’re making plans to motivate large crews of volunteers and paid staff to get out on the river and clean that stuff up.”

Silver-Line also got inundated in the 2004 flooding caused by hurricane remnants, but the inventory mostly stayed on site, although it was sullied with mud. The company built a dyke system after that flood to control river flooding, but apparently it was overrun by Helene.

Carson said another big flood could cause similar problems for Silver-Line, which has no plans to curtail operations or relocate.

“I think we’re in this position now where we should look at what we have in the floodplain and what we want our floodplain to look like in the future,” Carson said. “And I know they’re a big provider of jobs, but I think it’s fair to argue that a plastics manufacturing spot in the floodplain is maybe not the best location. I’d love to see them, as well as other oil and gas kinds of places relocate out of the floodplain.”


Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. John Boyle has been covering Asheville and surrounding communities since the 20th century. You can reach him at (828) 337-0941, or via email at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org. Investigative reporter Victoria A. Ifatusin joined us through a 12-month fellowship as part of the Scripps Howard Fund’s Roy W. Howard Fellowship program. You can reach her via email at vifatusin@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s local reporting during this crisis is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.

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At least 3 of 43 fatalities in Buncombe were unhoused people • Asheville Watchdog

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avlwatchdog.org – JOHN BOYLE and SALLY KESTIN – 2024-11-21 06:00:00

Asheville Watchdog is bringing you the stories behind the staggering loss of life from Helene, the children, parents, grandparents, multiple generations of a single family, all gone in one of the worst natural disasters to hit the mountains of western North Carolina. This is the seventh installment.

Buncombe County’s homeless advocates feared the worst: Helene would be deadly for the dozens of unhoused people living along the banks of rivers and streams that turned into raging floodwaters.

“We thought that the death toll just in this population was going to be up in the 20s, 30s, just because of how many people camp on the rivers,” said Alanna Kinsella, homeless services director at Homeward Bound.

Read previous installments of The Lives We Lost.

Asheville Watchdog has identified three unhoused people of the 43 who perished in Buncombe from the Sept. 27 tropical storm: Jody Henderson, an Air Force veteran described by his sister as extremely loving, Calvin “Michael” McMahan, who liked to travel and preach to people he met, and Lisa Plemmons, a cook at an Asheville nursing home who was living in her car and had been featured in a previous installment of The Lives We Lost.

About five unhoused people remain unaccounted for, Kinsella said.

“Did they leave town before? Do we have their legal name? It’s really hard to know,” she said. “It could only be one or two people that are really actually missing.”

The toll on Asheville’s homeless community turned out to be lower than feared. The Asheville-Buncombe Homeless Coalition called a Code Purple beginning the morning of Sept. 26, opening shelter space for anyone who needed it and providing free bus transportation.

Teams that included community paramedics and outreach workers visited homeless encampments to warn people near water and urge them to seek shelter. Advocates were also able to spread the word about Code Purple early because of the persistent rains ahead of the storm.

At AHOPE, a day shelter run by Homeward Bound, “so many people were coming in here at that time because people needed to get dry, they needed to get supplies,” Kinsella said. “We were really able to disseminate that information really quickly.”

Many went to shelters, “and a lot of our campers really moved into the core of town,” Kinsella said.

In the weeks after the storm, advocates have been attempting to account for everyone. Asheville’s 2024 Point-In-Time count identified 739 people without housing, most in emergency shelters or transitional housing, but 219 were camping, sleeping in cars or on the street.  

The task has been difficult because some homeless people were known only by aliases or street names.

“It really took an entire community of us to come together and say, ‘Okay, I know that person’s legal name,’ or ‘I only know them by this,’“ Kinsella said. “It was a lot of really having to piece things together.

“It may be a while before we know the full scope of who all from our community, of people experiencing homelessness, have been lost.”

Here are two of their stories.

Jody Henderson

Jody Henderson’s life never was easy, but he “was one of the most loving people you would ever meet,” said his sister, Kathy Henderson Cook.

Her younger brother struggled with bipolar disorder and was often homeless and unable to work. Henderson had a high IQ and was good looking, she said, but the disease kept him hamstrung for most of his adult life.

“He had so much going for him, but he just couldn’t put that grasp on things and just stay with it,” Cook said. “He would float off, and then he would just get kind of loopy.”

Henderson, 63, died Sept. 27, swept away by Helene’s floodwaters, according to his death certificate. 

He had been staying at the Veterans Restoration Quarters on Tunnel Road in East Asheville, but Cook said he’d spent a couple of weeks at the VA hospital for mental health treatment.

On the day before Helene, Henderson was on a “weekend pass” from the VRQ and rented a cabin along the Swannanoa River at the KOA Campground. He needed a space that would accept dogs, as he didn’t want to go somewhere without his beloved mutt and emotional support dog, Bullet.

Cook said that on Sept. 27, as the river breached its banks and the water rose, her brother was standing on top of the cabin. An evacuation team had just arrived. As he often did when his situation was dire, Henderson called his sister.

“He called me at 9:17,” Cook said. 

Their conversation was short.

“He said, ‘Sis, I love you. The evac team just arrived. I’ll call you,’” Cook said. “He hung up, and he was gone.”

A witness at the campground said “it was around 10 o’clock when the building collapsed and everything went crazy,” Cook said.

Jody Nyle Henderson grew up with Cook in Chesnee, South Carolina, and had lived in California, Utah, Nevada, North Carolina and Texas before returning to Chesnee in 2018,  according to his obituary. He attended Chesnee High School and Spartanburg Community College before joining the U.S. Air Force.

He is survived by three children, Cook and another sister, Kristi Henderson Walker. A brother, Michael Kenneth Henderson, died previously.

Jody Henderson’s emotional support dog, Bullet, survived Helene’s flooding and is now living with a friend in Maryland. // Courtesy of Kathy Henderson Cook

“His final days were in a log cabin with his beloved dog Bullet by the Swannanoa River with a view of God’s beautiful creation surrounding him as he made new friends,” his obituary states. “Bullet was adopted by one of those new friends, Chelsea of Maryland, who rescued Bullet from the flooding.”

Cook said her brother easily made friends, including Chelsea, whom he met at the campground. She did not want her last name published. 

“He’d never met her. Didn’t know her, but of course, you know — two hours with Jody — best friends,” Cook said.

Cook, who called her brother “Bo,” said his death has been difficult, and she still has “moments where I tend to struggle with emotional issues.

“But as a whole, I know this was a blessing from God,” Cook said, explaining that she always worried about her brother, especially when he stopped his medications and was unhoused. 

He would end up in need and then call to come stay with her, she said.

“He would do anything for me — he just didn’t have the ability to fight the disease,” Cook said. “And I don’t hold that against him.”

She noted that her brother suffered from “tall tale syndrome,” exaggerating facts or making up stories.

She and her sister take comfort knowing that Henderson went out with a story that would normally be hard to believe, one involving a historic storm that showed immense power and swept away entire buildings. 

They’ve also taken comfort in the outpouring of support from the community, from churches to governmental agencies.

“It was a blessing to have to lose somebody and be as fortunate as we are in a community like we live in, to have people come together,” Cook said.

– John Boyle, Asheville Watchdog

Calvin “Michael” McMahan

Calvin McMahan’s sister feared the worst after Helene when she did not hear from the big brother who never went more than a few weeks without checking in.

Calvin “Michael” McMahan liked traveling to different places and preaching to the people he met. // Courtesy of Pamela Douthit

The last she knew, McMahan, who went by his middle name, Michael, had been in Asheville, said Pamela Douthit of Bryson City. “I was wondering where he was, hoping he was okay, worried to death,” she said.

Douthit said police told the family that McMahan had drowned in the storm. His body was found Sept. 30 on Glendale Avenue along the Swannanoa River in one of the areas hardest hit by flooding.

The official cause of death was “landslide injuries,” according to his death certificate.

McMahan, 63, was the oldest of 10 children and had been unhoused for the past 15 to 20 years, his sister said.

Michael McMahan, far right, was the oldest of 10 children. Eight of the McMahan siblings are pictured in this family photo with their mother, Mildred, front. // Courtesy of Pamela Douthit

“He lived everywhere,” she said. “He had property here in Swain County, but he wanted to travel. He wanted to visit different places, so he decided being homeless was his choice.”

McMahan liked to preach to the people he met. “He testified to people,” Douthit said. “He talked about God and how free we are and how thankful we are.”

McMahan visited his sister and her husband in Bryson City from time to time and would stay for a couple of weeks. “He said he had to do God’s work, so he went on out down the road,” she said.

McMahan had been staying under a bridge near the Swannanoa. His sister said he frequented homeless shelters in bad weather and must not have known about the dangerous flooding predicted in Helene.

Michael McMahan, right, as a child with his sisters, Pamela, middle, and Kathy. // Courtesy of Pamela Douthit

“I guess it just snuck up on him. He was asleep or something,” she said. “I hate that he had to go the way he did.” 

McMahan had a son and a daughter in Florida, she said. He had been a house painter and loved the guitar, though he did not know how to play.

“Like anyone else, he made mistakes, but he tried to do the best he could do for other people,” Douthit said.

McMahan had “some trouble with the law…He changed his life, and he started working for the Lord and doing what the Lord said to do. I was proud of that,” his sister said.

“I loved him. He was a good person,” she said. “He will be missed.”

– Sally Kestin, Asheville Watchdog


Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. John Boyle has been covering Asheville and surrounding communities since the 20th century. You can reach him at (828) 337-0941, or via email at jboyle@avlwatchdog.org. Sally Kestin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter. Email skestin@avlwatchdog.org. The Watchdog’s local reporting during this crisis is made possible by donations from the community. To show your support for this vital public service go to avlwatchdog.org/support-our-publication/.

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Worries arise that loan to Saint Augustine's University could threaten school's future

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www.youtube.com – ABC11 – 2024-11-20 17:21:21


SUMMARY: St. Augustine’s University faces significant financial struggles, with millions in debt raising alarms among community members regarding its partnership with Gothic Ventures. Concerns center on the 24% interest loan agreement, which includes a 2% management fee and collateralizes campus properties. Critics fear that failure to repay could lead to the university’s closure. Gothic Ventures, noting the university’s financial challenges, expressed a willingness to discuss modifying the loan terms. Opponents demand changes like lowering the interest rate to 9% or enabling debt transfer to alleviate the strain on the historically Black college and secure its future.

A group of leaders are worried about a $7 million loan given to Saint Augustine’s University. The group includes religious leaders, social justice advocates and SAU alumni. Together, they spent Wednesday raising awareness about the loan and pushing for a solution to the school’s financial challenges.

Story: https://abc11.com/post/saint-augustines-university-despite-financial-accreditation-struggles-leaders-join-forces-push-save-hbcu/15563919/
Watch: https://abc11.com/watch/live/11065013/
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Jurisdiction on 6 complaints split between state, counties | North Carolina

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www.thecentersquare.com – By Elyse Apel | The Center Square – 2024-11-20 16:09:00

SUMMARY: The North Carolina State Board of Elections divided six Republican complaints concerning election integrity between itself and county boards. The disputes include issues with voting registration, overseas ballots, and allegations of felons voting, particularly in the close state Supreme Court race between Republican Jefferson Griffin and Democrat Allison Riggs. Griffin initially led by 9,851 votes but trailed by 722 votes post-election. The board reached a compromise to share jurisdiction, aiming to protect election integrity. Additionally, several recount requests from Republican candidates in legislative races are pending, with deadlines for legal briefs approaching.

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The post Jurisdiction on 6 complaints split between state, counties | North Carolina appeared first on www.thecentersquare.com

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