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July 30, 2009 - The EPA inspector general — prompted by local residents' concerns — is investigating how the federal agency has handled cleanup of contamination at the former CTS of Asheville site. July 29, 2009 - The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources said it will allow the Environmental Protection Agency to make a decision about federal oversight of cleanup at up the former CTS of Asheville site before it acts on an proposed agreement for cleanup at the industrial site. “It is fair to say that the community and their comments did lead to the decision of allowing the process on the federal side to play out, given that the EPA said they would make a decision sometime this fall,” said Jamie Kritzer, a spokesman with DENR. The EPA is currently conducting an investigation at the former CTS site and the surrounding community to determine of the site qualifies for the National Priorities List, or NPL. Placing the site on the NPL would make federal funds available for site cleanup if responsible parties refuse the cleanup or don’t have resources to complete the cleanup. North Carolina Dept of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and CTS had proposed in May to enter into
an agreement for voluntary cleanup of the CTS site. If CTS reaches $3 million in expenses they have
fulfilled their legal monetary obligation to the state. This amount is most likely completely inadequate
to cleanup all of the contamination. |