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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From what I hear, we had an election last week.

A big ‘un. A humdinger, game changer, end of the world, etc., etc.

Yeah, from a Democrat’s perspective, it was bad. Kamala Harris lost decisively to Donald Trump, a man barren of morals who encouraged a deadly insurrection on our capital, flouted the law repeatedly, and made bullying the hallmark of his campaign.

We have learned many lessons from this election, and from Mr. Trump, but I’m not going to dwell on those today. All I’ll say is that the American people will tolerate a level of dishonesty, crass behavior and immorality previously thought disqualifying for any presidential candidate.

With Republicans heading toward control of all three branches of government, we will see a transformation of our country over the next two years that could devastate the environment, public health and yes, even consumer prices.

Shall we forever more remember that it is, indeed, the economy, stupid. And well, immigration.

But let’s move on. It’s not all doom and gloom for Democrats, at least on the state and local levels, partly because North Carolina has a delightful habit of going for yin and yang when it comes to elections. This time we went solidly for Trump as president but overwhelmingly for Democrat Josh Stein as governor. 

And on the Council of State, Democrats won a bunch of offices: lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state and superintendent of public instruction. Republicans won these: state auditor, agriculture commissioner, insurance commissioner, labor commissioner and treasurer.

“(Democrats) won half, so they gained a seat on the Council of State,” Western Carolina University political scientist Chris Cooper said last week. (I’m required by law to shoot the bull with Cooper after every major election.) “They kept the First Congressional District, which was the only competitive district in the state. They clawed back the super majority.”

“It was not a bad night for Democrats in North Carolina,” Cooper said.

Hey, we’re not blue, but we’re kind of purplish. OK, maybe mauve. Ish.

Hey, we still have two very conservative U.S. senators. But the Dems’ success on the state level remains notable.

“The song remains the same, as Led Zeppelin said,” Cooper said, referring to our dual personality and purple streak. “It’s the same story. What’s interesting or different is that some other states joined us.”

In 2020, only five Democrats won election when they were on the same statewide ballot as Trump, and four of those were in the state of North Carolina, Cooper said.

“This time, there were some Democrats who still were elected in Trump states, and it’s because he won all the battlegrounds,” Cooper said.

But let’s get back to the super-majority issue, and the governor’s veto, probably the election’s most important development.

For the past several years, Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes have been mostly meaningless, as the Republicans could override them at will, thanks to a super majority provided by Mecklenburg Rep. Tricia Cotham, who switched from Democrat to Republican in 2023.

Having a Democratic governor with real veto power is huge for progressives and the future of state legislation, Cooper said.

“I think the Stein victory is, of course, important, and we saw it coming,” Cooper said. “But it means so much more for the Democrats because it comes in conjunction with breaking the super majority.”

The veto is the “one legislative tool that the governor has in his toolbox, and if the Republicans had maintained the super majority, they could have overridden his veto without a single Democrat on their side,” Cooper said.

“So in practice, that means they could pass any legislation they wanted without a single Democrat agreeing,” Cooper continued. “It would have been a one-party state in terms of the legislation coming out of Raleigh.”

So, that’s pretty huge.

Another takeaway from this election is that Buncombe County is more Democratic than ever, even in the one territory Republicans made an effort to claim through favorable redistricting, House District 115, where Rep. Lindsey Prather, D-Buncombe, was the incumbent. She ran against Republican Ruth Smith, pulling out a victory with 51.4 percent of the vote.

As Cooper said, “It was close, but it wasn’t,” as Prather’s victory is safely out of recount territory.

“In that district, based on the 2020 vote, it favored the Republican Party by a few percent, so really, she outperformed her district by probably five percentage points,” Cooper said. “I think the reality is that probably means the district’s changed since 2020 — more people moving in. It’s liberalizing.”

Cooper is skeptical that another Republican will make it to the North Carolina House in Buncombe County in the foreseeable future. 

On the flip side, I don’t see a Democrat going to Congress from the 11th District in my lifetime. (And yes, let’s hope that’s longer than, say, five or 10 years.) Democrat Caleb Rudow challenged incumbent Chuck Edwards, who delivered a beatdown, winning just less than 57 percent of the vote — and I thought Rudow ran a good campaign and was a very likable candidate.

Football hero Heath Shuler, a former NFL quarterback and Swain County native, was the last Democrat to hold that office, and he was essentially a Republican in many regards. Unless Shuler wants to run again, look for Edwards to stay in as long as he wants.

Speaking of beatdowns, Amanda Edwards put one on former Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan, who ran as an unaffiliated candidate in their race for the chair of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, taking 60.7 percent of the vote to Duncan’s 39.3. Duncan, a former Democrat, left the party after he said it essentially left him by drifting too far left.

Edwards hammered Duncan on his acceptance of a $125,000 retirement payout or retention bonus (depending on your point of view). But I don’t think that’s what did in Duncan, who was a highly popular sheriff.

I think what got him is he ran as an unaffiliated candidate in a very Democratic County and didn’t have any party backing.

Cooper has written a lot about unaffiliated candidates and how they have a steep uphill battle in North Carolina, first to even get on the ballot and then to actually win.

“It just shows unaffiliated candidates can’t win,” Cooper said. “Four years, maybe two years from now, we’ll have another person read ‘Don Quixote’ and start tilting at windmills.”

“He was the best possible unaffiliated candidate and he didn’t come close,” Cooper said.

Which brings me to the end of today’s column. 

Let’s start talking about that 2028 race! I can’t wait for the text messages to start!

[Correction: An earlier version of this column misidentified the House district in which Rep. Lindsey Prather, D-Buncombe, was the incumbent and the victor. It is District 115. The column also misstated Chuck Edwards’s percentage of the vote total in his race against Caleb Rudow. He won just less than 57 percent.]

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. 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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