avlwatchdog.org – ANDREW R. JONES and VICTORIA A. IFATUSIN – 2024-11-13 10:45:00
Six weeks after Tropical Storm Helene, sludge from roiling floodwaters has turned into sunbaked dust, brought on by an extended warm, dry spell and repair crews trying to make Asheville and surrounding areas whole again.
Overall particulate levels have not been unhealthy, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s daily index, but the Asheville Buncombe Air Quality Agency recommends wearing an N95 mask if you’re working in dusty conditions, removing storm debris or cleaning up damage in an enclosed area.
More worrisome to air quality experts is smoke pollution from open burning of storm debris.
“What we’re particularly concerned about is the fine particles from open burning that we expect we’re going to see more of,” AB Air Quality Agency Director Ashley Featherstone said.
Tons of debris are being hauled off for processing, but some of it is being burned. Though open burning is illegal inside Asheville city limits and in other municipalities, burning in unincorporated areas is allowed through permitting.
The Air Quality board prefers that there would be no burning anywhere.
“What we’re telling folks is, please don’t burn,” Featherstone said. “Please put your material out on the curb and let the removal contractors come and pick it up. Can you imagine if everybody started burning the stuff in their yard? It would be terrible.”
From Oct. 3 to Nov. 11, there were nine days when the EPA’s measurement of air-borne particulates – known as the Air Quality Index or AQI – has climbed into the moderate range, meaning that while acceptable, the air could pose a risk for some people, especially those who have respiratory conditions or who are unusually sensitive to air pollution. On all other days, the measurement has been considered good.
But there’s a caveat: Buncombe doesn’t have sensors that show what exactly is in those particles and it has only one particulate measurement station, along with one ozone monitor. Only about 1,000 of the roughly 3,000 counties in the United States have monitoring data, according to the EPA.
There have only been nine “yellow” air quality days in Buncombe County since Oct. 3, according to Environmental Protection Agency data. // Data source: Environmental Protection Agency; Watchdog graphic by Victoria A. Ifatusin
“AB Air Quality is aware that there is dust in the air from the flood waters that have receded and are also concerned about particles in the air from open burning of storm debris,” according to a statement from the AB Air Quality Agency. “Dust can contain fine particulate, but also contains particulate matter that is larger than what these monitors measure. Those larger particles are considered less dangerous to human health but can still cause irritation to lungs and upper respiratory systems.”
The AQI is a color-coded system that measures parts per million (ppm) of particulate matter. The higher the AQI value, the greater the level of air pollution and health concern, according to the AQI website.
The system is coded as follows:
Green (Good) – 0 to 50 ppm
Yellow (Moderate) – 51 to 100 ppm
Orange (Unhealthy for sensitive groups) – 101 to 150 ppm
Red (Unhealthy) – 151 to 200 ppm
Purple (Very unhealthy) – 201 to 300 ppm
Brown (Hazardous) – 301 and more ppm
“I haven’t sifted through the long-term data, but I can tell when I check the [air quality sensor] map that particulate matter around the city is a little bit higher than it usually is,” said Evan Cuozo, an atmospheric and environmental scientist by training, a professor at the University of North Carolina Asheville and a member of the AB Air Quality board. “It’s not surprising. There’s a lot of dust in the air. Nothing to be concerned about for long-term health.”
“I haven’t sifted through the long-term data, but I can tell when I check the [air quality sensor] map that particulate matter around the city is a little bit higher than it usually is,” said Evan Cuozo, an atmospheric and environmental scientist by training, a professor at the University of North Carolina Asheville and a member of the AB Air Quality board. // Credit: UNCA
Buncombe doesn’t have sensors that show what exactly is in those particles, according to Cuozo and the AB Air Quality Agency.
“Certainly we’re breathing in slightly more petrochemicals, pesticides, fuels, solvents, etc.,” Cuozo said. But there aren’t ways to measure how much right now.
So, is the air safe to breathe, even on yellow-level days?
“I never like to breathe in a lot of dust, so I always try to wear a mask or avoid visible plumes of dust,” Cuozo said. “But I think for acute exposures, short-term exposures, I don’t have any long-term concerns for my health based on this. I think we’re exposed to so many synthetic compounds and plasticizers in our diets and just touching things that I’m not worried about the additional burden in the air right now.”
Tracking smoke
What Cuozo and the AB Air Quality Agency are most concerned about is smoke from open burning of storm debris.
And the risk of wildfires during this dry season is growing, posing perhaps the greatest threat to air quality in the region.
Tree destruction after the storm’s 80-100 mph wind gusts will have long-lasting impacts to the fire environment, the North Carolina Forest Service said in a Nov. 3 warning.
“The potential for increased wildfire activity, especially in WNC, is above normal in November,” the Forest Services said. “In the aftermath of #HeleneNC, the amount of fuel on the ground is excessive.”
The Asheville-Buncombe Air Quality Agency’s sensor station, located at the Buncombe County Schools Board of Education, measures particulates and is the only such station in the county. // Watchdog photo by Victoria A. Ifatusin
Since burning is inevitable, the EPA sent the AB Air Quality Agency several PurpleAir monitors, small portable devices that measure air quality. Five of these were scheduled to be added to Buncombe County in the coming weeks, and some are already running.
“We have four new PurpleAirs installed and showing up on the Air Now Fire and Smoke map at Leicester Library, South Buncombe Library, Biltmore (Hi-Wire) and Board of Education,” Featherstone said Nov. 12.
Having more PurpleAir sensors will allow the agency and the EPA to know whether burning is seriously hurting air quality in areas outside of Asheville and suburban communities.
A PurpleAir sensor is located at Buncombe County Schools. It’s one of several going online, an expansion meant to keep a more thorough record of air quality throughout the county in the wake of Helene. // Watchdog photo by Victoria A. Ifatusin
Anyone can buy a PurpleAir sensor for a little less than $300 and allow EPA to track the data it collects.
The AB Air Quality Agency has only one fine particulate monitor, which is located at the Buncombe County Schools Board of Education in the Emma community.
“The Air Quality Index is meant to give an indication of air quality conditions for a general area and does not give specific information on a smaller scale and may not be representative of the air quality in Swannanoa or Fairview for example,” the agency said in an Oct. 22 statement.
Even though AB Air Quality Agency has been tracking and publishing data for many years, Helene has brought it into a new phase where understanding rapidly changing air quality will be vital to understanding how the area is getting rid of its debris.
The effort could last for at least a year, the agency said.
“We’ve heard that the sensors are going to be here for a year,” Featherstone said.
Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit news team producing stories that matter to Asheville and Buncombe County. Andrew R. Jones is a Watchdog investigative reporter. Email arjones@avlwatchdog.org. Investigative reporter Victoria A. Ifatusin joined us through a 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/.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-01 13:32:00
(The Center Square) – Directions on curriculum measured age appropriate and access in public libraries to materials considered harmful to minors are in a proposal at the North Carolina House of Representatives.
Parental Rights for Curriculum and Books, also known as House Bill 595, adds to state law a section for age-appropriate instruction for students; a human growth and development program for fourth and fifth graders; and says reproductive health and safety education shall not happen before seventh grade.
Rep. John A. Torbett, R-Gaston
NCLeg.gov
The bill authored by Rep. John Torbett, R-Gaston, and filed Monday additionally has sections on instructional materials and clarification of “defenses for material harmful to minors.” Public library access for minors is in a fourth section.
Gender identity instruction, a buzzword of recent election cycles, is prohibited prior to students entering the fifth grade. The proposal extends that to prior to the entering seventh grade.
The bill would require parental consent to learn about some elements associated with sex education – infections, contraception, assault and human trafficking.
State law allows schools the option to adopt local policies on parental consent for the reproductive health education.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-03-31 16:37:00
(The Center Square) – Judicial warfare is eroding the confidence in Americans’ justice system leaving a blight on justice itself, says a North Carolina congresswoman who leads the Rules Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C, is speaking out against judges blocking the president’s decisions as granted in the Constitution ahead of a Tuesday congressional hearing.
“As of late, we have certainly seen a slew of rulings by rogue judges that surpass their own constitutional authority,” she said in a post to social media Monday afternoon. “This is judicial warfare in the flesh. If it is not remedied in a commonsense and expeditious fashion, these exercises in partisanship will do further irreparable damage to the nation and to the confidence of Americans in our justice system.”
More than a dozen orders from President Donald Trump – more than in the entire time Joe Biden, Barack Obama and George W. Bush served as presidents – have been thwarted or attempted to be blocked. Among the judges in the spotlight is U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, a pivotal figure in deportation of people accused of being in gangs in addition to just being named to preside in a case involving military operations and a messaging app.
Boasberg, appointed by Bush to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in 2002, was nominated to the federal bench by Obama and confirmed in the Senate 96-0 in 2012.
Boasberg on Wednesday issued and on Friday extended a temporary restraining order that prevents Trump from using the Alien Enemies Act to deport people believed to be part of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. A hearing, Judicial Overreach and Constitutional Limits on the Federal Courts, is at 10 a.m. Tuesday to be conducted jointly by the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence and the Internet, and the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government from within the Judiciar Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.
California Republican Darrell Issa is chairman of the former committee, Texas’ Chip Roy the latter. North Carolina Democrat Deborah Ross is a minority member of the former; North Carolina Republican Mark Harris is a majority member of the latter.
Witnesses scheduled include former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Cindy Romero, a victim of criminal activity believed perpetrated by Tren de Aragua in Aurora, Colo. Also on the invite list are witnesses from the Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation.
Other federal judges drawing fire from supporters of the president include Biden appointees Amir Ali, Loren AliKhan, Deborah Boardman, Angel Kelley and Brendan Hurson; Obama appointees Paul Engelmayer, Amy Berman Jackson, John McConnell and Leo Sorokin; Bush appointee Joseph Laplante; Bill Clinton appointee William Alsup; and Ronald Reagan appointees John Coughenhour and Royce Lamberth.
“Without question,” Foxx said, “exceeding constitutional mandates as a matter of judicial philosophy does nothing more than blight justice itself.”
www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-03-31 15:21:00
(The Center Square) – Wildfires continued to burn Monday in the Carolinas, though a sign of optimism arose with a burning ban lifted in 41 South Carolina counties and measured rainfall in both states.
Largest of the fires is Table Rock in Pickens and Greenville counties of South Carolina. The Black Cove fire is burning in North Carolina’s Polk and Henderson counties, the Rattlesnake fire is burning Haywood County, and the Alarka 5 fire is in Swain County.
South Carolina’s Horry County at the Atlantic Ocean and North Carolina border, and the northwestern counties of Spartanburg, Greenville, Pickens and Oconee remain under a burning ban. In North Carolina, all 100 counties have a ban in effect.
The Table Rock fire size is about 13,191 acres in South Carolina and 574 in North Carolina, the Forestry Commission of the former said. Containment is about 30%.
The Persimmon Ridge fire is 2,078 acres in size with 64% containment. Rain Sunday into Monday measured nearly 1 inch.
The Covington Drive Fire in Myrtle Beach is about 85% contained and in mop-up and strengthened firebreaks stage.
In North Carolina, the Black Cove complex of fires are 7,672 acres in size. It includes the Black Cove (3,502 acres, 36% contained), Deep Woods (3,971 acres, 32% contained) and Fish Hook (199 acres, 100% contained) fires. Rainfall overnight into Monday helped the battle.
