In its first appearance at a Tropical Storm Helene briefing since before Christmas, the Asheville Water Resources Department delivered more good news for customers regarding lead testing results and improving turbidity at North Fork Reservoir.
Spokesperson Clay Chandler said the water system has returned to full corrosion control protection, if it was ever fully lost. Corrosion control helps prevent lead from leaching from private plumbing into tap water.
Chandler said Wednesday the water department has posted 1,200 results for lead testing, and they show 24 tests came back with detectable levels of lead on the first draw of water, and nine of those exceeded the EPA-established action limit of .015 parts per billion.
Of 1,175 “flush samples,” taken after letting the water run, five had detectable levels of lead, three of which were “right at the detection limit,” Chandler said. Two surpassed the EPA-established action level limit.
He said the city identified a couple of issues with those customers, and remediation steps have been taken. The city has said previously that it has no lead in its distribution line piping, but lead can enter taps from private plumbing, particularly in homes built in or before 1988, when lead solder and pipes was banned.
The city announced Nov. 14 that lead had been detected in seven schools after lead mitigation treatments had been suspended 19 days, resuming Oct. 30. The announcement resulted in thousands of customers – about 7,000 total – requesting lead testing kits. No students drank the water during that time frame.
The city restored potable water Nov. 18 and has insisted it is safe to drink.
Health officials emphasize that no level of lead, which can cause development problems in children and has other healthy impacts, is safe.
The lead “detects” in the city system continue to share a commonality, Chandler said, which is that the customers’ water systems “have all been sitting dormant for an extended period.” The city still recommends customers let the water run for 30 seconds before using, or until they notice a temperature change, typically to cooler water.
The city also conducted a resampling of its existing lead and copper sampling pool, sites that are tested every three years as part of compliance with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s lead awareness program. Of those 51 sampled sites in December, three had a detectable level of lead on the first draw and one was over the action level.
The city sampled the same sites in July, before Helene, and got the same results.
“So that is very good news, because we have comparative sampling data on that sampling pool from over the years, and essentially nothing has changed,” Chandler said. “That’s pretty strong evidence that if corrosion control was ever lost — and there’s not a whole lot of evidence that it was — that it is all the way back. We are obviously very, very happy with that.”
The city of Asheville reinstated its lead mitigation program Oct. 30 after suspending it for 19 days. It takes 30 to 90 days to reform the protective coating to prevent lead from leaching into pipes in older homes — those built in 1988 or before. // Watchdog photo by Starr Sariego
The city previously noted that the lead mitigation program was reinstated Oct. 30 and would take 30 to 90 days to reform the protective coating to prevent lead from leaching into pipes in older homes.
The lead results put the city “still well within the 90th percentile” target required by the EPA and the DEQ. That means at least 90 percent of the first draw samples, if they have detectable lead, must be under the action limit.
“I think we’re actually at like 98.9 percent,” Chandler said.
In early December, two outside experts raised concerns about the lead in city water and recommended more testing.
Chandler said the city has given out about 7,000 test kits and will continue running tests, although he doesn’t expect all of those kits handed out will be tested.
“We don’t think every single one of those is going to come back,” Chandler said. “For example, we’ve had a lot of people ask us to take them off the list as we post results on the website.”
Chandler said lead test kit pickup and drop-off continues to be available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, at Asheville City Hall, and at three local libraries from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Those branches are the North Asheville Library at 1030 Merrimon Avenue, the East Asheville Library at 3 Avon Road and the West Asheville Library at 942 Haywood Road.
The last day to pick up a test kit from the libraries is Jan. 28, and the last day to drop off at the libraries is Friday, Jan. 31.
“Water Resources strongly encourages our customers who want to lead test kits to pick one up and drop it off before Jan. 31,” Chandler said. “Then our capacity to get test kits to the lab and the results back to the customers is going to be significantly decreased as we return to normal operations.”
Turbidity continues to improve
Chandler also said turbidity continues to improve at North Fork Reservoir, which provides 80 percent of the city’s drinking water, and an Army Corps of Engineers mobile treatment project is operational.
Helene essentially turned North Fork upside down, and turbidity surged in the 350-acre lake. Measured in Nephelometric Turbidity Units (NTUs), turbidity initially stood at 79 NTUs after the storm, resulting in water one city official compared to chocolate milk.
The city restored mostly untreated water to most customers by mid-October, but it had a strong chlorine odor and was discolored, as it was essentially lake water. Clean, potable water returned a month later.
Still, reservoir turbidity remained stubbornly high through much of the fall. As of Dec. 18, it stood at 10.2. On Wednesday, Chandler said it’s down to about 7.
After treatment, turbidity at customers’ taps is extremely low.
“Once that water passes through our filters and our treatment systems, turbidity is around .08, .09, right around there,” Chandler said.
Pre-Helene, turbidity in the raw water at North Fork typically stood around .5, and the city would like to get it back to that level.
“Again, I just don’t think that’s possible with the level of damage that we have in the watershed,” Chandler said, referring to downed trees and muddy washouts.
The city has found that its system can handle higher turbidity than previously thought, but it does require more backwashing and is not a good long-term solution.
The Army Corps of Engineers portable filtration system, which treats higher turbidity water, has helped the city meet demand, which actually has increased since the storm. The Corps contracted the six-month, $39 million project to a private firm.
While tourism has been down drastically since the storm, water usage is up, Chandler said.
“Our average daily demand is right at 25 million gallons a day,” Chandler said. “Before Helene, that number was between 18 and 20 (MGD).”
Chandler did not know what’s driving the increase, although he said some recent breaks of 6- and 8-inch lines due to extreme cold could be a contributing factor.
The city has the capacity to meet demand. North Fork can push out 31 million gallons of treated water a day, and the city’s treatment facility on the Mills River in northern Henderson County another 7 million gallons daily.
“If we had a demand of like 38 million gallons, we could meet it, but we would be redlining our operations,” Chandler said.
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/.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Alan Wooten | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-05-01 08:16:00
(The Center Square) – Taxpayers in North Carolina will face an average tax increase of $2,382 if the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expires at the end of the year, says the National Taxpayers Union Foundation.
Results of analysis were released Thursday morning by the nonprofit organization billing itself a “nonpartisan research and educational affiliate of the National Taxpayers Union.” Its four state neighbors were similar, with South Carolina lower ($2,319) and higher averages in Virginia ($2,787), Georgia ($2,680) and Tennessee ($2,660).
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of eight years ago was a significant update to individual and business taxes in the federal tax code. According to the Tax Foundation, it was considered pro-growth reform with an estimate to reduce federal revenue by $1.47 trillion over a decade.
Should no action be taken before Jan. 1 and the act expire, the federal standard deduction would be halved; the federal child tax credit would decrease; higher federal tax brackets would return; the federal estate tax threshold will be lower; and some business tax benefits will be gone.
The foundation, in summarizing the impact on North Carolina business expensing, says the state conforms to Section 168(k). This means “only 60% expensing for business investments this year and less in future years. State policymakers could adopt 100% full expensing, particularly since the state conforms to the Section 163(j) limit on interest expense and the two provisions were meant to work together.”
The foundation says business net operation loss treatment policies in the state “are less generous than the federal government and impose compliance costs due to lack of synchronization with the federal code and are uncompetitive with most other states.”
The National Taxpayers Union Foundation also says lawmakers “should at least be conscious of any retroactive provisions when selecting their date of fixed conformity.” North Carolina is among 21 states conforming to the federal income tax base “only as of a certain date” rather than automatically matching federal tax code changes – meaning definitions, calculations or rules.
The foundation said nationally the average filer will see taxes raised $2,955. It estimates an increase for 62% of Americans. The biggest average increases by state are in Massachusetts ($4,848), Washington ($4,567) and Wyoming ($4,493) and the lowest are in West Virginia ($1,423), Mississippi ($1,570) and Kentucky ($1,715).
Individual wages, nationally, are expected to go down 0.5%, reducing economic growth by 1.1% over 10 years.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Right
The content primarily reports on the potential impact of the expiration of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, relying heavily on analysis from the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, which describes itself as a nonpartisan organization but is known to advocate for lower taxes and limited government intervention, positions typically aligned with center-right economic policies. The article uses neutral language in presenting facts and data and does not explicitly advocate for a particular political viewpoint; however, the emphasis on tax increases and business expensing challenges following the expiration suggests a subtle alignment with pro-tax-cut, business-friendly perspectives associated with center-right ideology. Thus, while the article largely reports rather than overtly promotes an ideological stance, the framing and source choice reflect a center-right leaning.
www.thecentersquare.com – By David Beasley | The Center Square contributor – (The Center Square – ) 2025-04-30 21:25:00
(The Center Square) – Authorization of sports agents to sign North Carolina’s collegiate athletes for “name, image, and likeness” contracts used in product endorsements is in legislation approved Wednesday by a committee of the state Senate.
Authorize NIL Agency Contracts, known also as Senate Bill 229, is headed to the Rules Committee after gaining favor in the Judiciary Committee. It would likely next get a full floor vote.
Last year the NCAA approved NIL contracts for players.
Sen. Amy S. Galey, R-Alamance
NCLeg.gov
“Athletes can benefit from NIL by endorsing products, signing sponsorship deals, engaging in commercial opportunities and monetizing their social media presence, among other avenues,” the NCAA says on its website. “The NCAA fully supports these opportunities for student-athletes across all three divisions.”
SB229 spells out the information that the agent’s contract with the athlete must include, and requires a warning to the athlete that they could lose their eligibility if they do not notify the school’s athletic director within 72 hours of signing the contract.
“Consult with your institution of higher education prior to entering into any NIL contract,” the says the warning that would be required by the legislation. “Entering into an NIL contract that conflicts with state law or your institution’s policies may have negative consequences such as loss of athletic eligibility. You may cancel this NIL agency contract with 14 days after signing it.”
The legislation also exempts the NIL contracts from being disclosed under the state’s Open Records Act when public universities review them. The state’s two ACC members from the UNC System, Carolina and N.C. State, requested the exemption.
“They are concerned about disclosure of the student-athlete contracts when private universities don’t have to disclose the student-athlete contracts,” Sen. Amy Galey, R-Alamance, told the committee. “I feel very strongly that a state university should not be put at a disadvantage at recruitment or in program management because they have disclosure requirements through state law.”
Duke and Wake Forest are the other ACC members, each a private institution.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
The article primarily reports on the legislative development regarding NIL (name, image, and likeness) contracts for collegiate athletes in North Carolina. It presents facts about the bill, committee actions, and includes statements from a state senator without using loaded or emotionally charged language. The piece neutrally covers the issue by explaining both the bill’s purpose and the concerns it addresses, such as eligibility warnings and disclosure exemptions. Overall, the article maintains a factual and informative tone without advocating for or against the legislation, reflecting a centrist, unbiased approach.
SUMMARY: Donald van der Vaart, a former North Carolina environmental secretary and climate skeptic, has been appointed to the North Carolina Utilities Commission by Republican Treasurer Brad Briner. Van der Vaart, who previously supported offshore drilling and fracking, would oversee the state’s transition to renewable energy while regulating utility services. His appointment, which requires approval from the state House and Senate, has drawn opposition from environmental groups. Critics argue that his views contradict clean energy progress. The appointment follows a controversial bill passed by the legislature, granting the treasurer appointment power to the commission.
