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.

“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.”

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.

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.”

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.”

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).

“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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