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/.
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.
by Jane Winik Sartwell, Carolina Public Press March 31, 2025
Corn farmers on food stamps and taking second jobs. Equipment not being repaired. Debts going unpaid.
That’s the reality for many North Carolina corn growers this spring.
Last year was the worst season for the crop in state history, according to Ronnie Heiniger, a corn specialist at N.C. State. Drought wiped out acre after acre in eastern North Carolina last summer. Hurricane Helene devastated any crops left in the mountains.
Normally a $750 million dollar business, corn yielded only $250 million in 2024.
The economic cost to farmers — and their communities — couldn’t be more serious. And with a moderate drought stretching into the early days of this planting season, some are worried about more bad luck to come.
Corn is particularly sensitive to drought due to the crop’s very short window of pollination: This critical period of growth is just a few days long. In North Carolina, that vulnerable timeframe usually happens in June. If no rain falls during those days, corn will simply not continue to grow and yields will sharply decline.
“It was just about as bad as it could get (last season),” Heiniger recalled. “There’s no recovering from 60 days without rainfall. The mood among these farmers is very depressed. Some don’t know where to turn.”
But the N.C. House of Representatives is trying to help, hoping that the money allocated by the Corn Farmers Recovery Act, or HB 296, will be enough to keep the industry going.
The bill — which has yet to make it past the Appropriations Committee, the Rules Committee, the House and Senate — would transfer nearly $90 million from the State Emergency Response and Disaster Relief Fund to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The money would go toward the creation of a 2024 Agricultural Disaster Corn Crop Loss Program, which corn farmers could apply to receive relief funds.
“To be honest, I don’t think most farmers thought the state was going to pay much attention to them,” Heiniger admitted. “This comes as a complete surprise.”
Corn farmers ‘at risk’
Corn is a summer staple on tables across North Carolina, but the crop also is necessary for feeding livestock and producing ethanol, which has a variety of uses. Sampson and Duplin counties, where pigs outnumber people 38 to 1, are home to the largest hog industries in the country. A shortage of feed could make that billion dollar business less profitable, too.
“I think a whole lot of farmers will be applying for this funding if it passes,” Zach Parker, an extension agent in Sampson County, told Carolina Public Press. “I don’t think devastation is understatement in the slightest. As for this summer, the only certainty is uncertainty. But I don’t think the corn industry is going anywhere. We have animals to feed.”
The bill would have the greatest economic impact in eastern North Carolina — the region with the largest, most valuable corn farms.
“In Wilson County, corn farmers have really been at risk,” said state Rep. Dante Pittman, a Democrat who serves Wilson and Nash counties and co-sponsored the Corn Farmers Recovery Act. “We saw an almost $4 million drop in income from corn in Wilson alone.
“The thing about this industry is that we don’t know what this year’s weather is going to bring. Anything we can do to prevent that loss from being devastating is necessary.”
Desperation down on the farm
With the cost of farming supplies high and crop commodity prices low, farmers are growing desperate.
“This bill will not only help farmers, but the farm communities that survive on selling fertilizer, chemicals, seeds, tractors and farm labor,” Heiniger explained. “It will help these rural communities where farmers are turning to food aid for their kids at school.”
The bill is geared toward those who grow corn, but since most farmers harvest a diverse set of crops, the money would in turn support production of soybeans, cotton, sweet potatoes and other North Carolina staples, according to Mike Yoder, an associate director of the College of Agriculture at N.C. State.
But some, like Rhonda Garrison, have concerns about the bill. Like, how will the relief funds be allocated? That’s something Garrison, director of the Corn Growers Association of North Carolina, wants to know.
“The bill is pretty ambiguous in terms of the formula for distributing the money,” Garrison contends. “I guess farmers will just have to apply for it and see what happens.”
But she doesn’t think the money will come too late to be useful.
“There were some farmers — overleveraged farmers who were already on the edge — that were done in completely by 2024,” Garrison said. “But not the majority. The potential money from this bill will likely go toward paying down debt.”
As planting season approaches, North Carolina corn farmers face difficult decisions about the future. There is a possibility the state will face some kind of natural disaster in 2025, whether it be hurricane, drought or continued fires.
“Us farmers rejoice in suffering because it produces character,” Heiniger said. “That’s what these farmers are trying to do: hold onto their character so they can get some hope and keep on going.”
