Contaminated water brings out hundreds to public meetings
Additional bad wells from former Clifton Precision plant discovered
By Dwight Otwell Editor

DWIGHT OTWELL/Sentinel Photo Kurt Batsel represented Clifton Precision as he talks to about 135 people at the Peachtree Community Center.

Large numbers of Peachtree residents Thursday attended two meetings concerning contaminated water from the old Clifton Precision plant.

The meetings were billed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources as pubic availability sessions.

About 135 people attended the afternoon meeting at the Peachtree Community Center. Another meeting was held that evening. Contamination of Clifton Precision's water supply was confirmed in late 1986. The plant on Hwy. 141 was sold to Moog Inc. in 2003 but Clifton Precision continues to conduct and manage the environmental activities concerning the contaminated water.

Kurt Batsel, consultant/project manager with The Dextra Group, Inc., acting as a spokesman for Clifton Precision, said offsite monitor wells were installed in September and some unexpected results were discovered. It was determined that two wells serving four residences were contaminated. These four homes were supplied with bottled water. All wells with contamination will have carbon filtration systems installed. As a result, the water well survey was expanded to the north, west and south. It was determined in October that of 10 additional wells sampled, one had contaminated water. Bottled water was offered to this residence as well as to several other residences where volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were present above acceptable levels. The water well survey will be expanded to the south and east.

Many of those attending the meeting said they live near Slow Creek and Greenlawn Cemetery Road, where contaminants have been found and they have not been contacted by officials.

"The primary objective is to make sure that exposure is minimized and eliminated, "Batsel said. "Cleanup will take a long time. We want to eliminate exposure during cleanup."

When a well is determined to have unacceptable levels of VOCs, bottled water is provided for that home, a carbon filtering system is installed to make the water safe and officials are working with the Town of Murphy to bring water lines down Greenlawn Cemetery Road for residents to hook onto.

"We are in the early stages to work out a system to run water along Greenlawn Cemetery Road," Batsel said. "We will work with people on hookups."

Gordon Hall said his daughter's property had eight times the acceptable level of trichloroethene. A woman said that her children played in Slow Creek before anyone knew about the contaminants.

"What are you going to do if my child dies of cancer?" she asked.

Batsel said there is a way of determining the amount of chemical exposure to a person. Abut 60 monitored wells, 40 private wells and one spring have been tested.

North Carolina Department of Health Toxicologist Dr. Ken Rudo said people could be at risk if they have been in contact with Slow Creek with their skin or inhalation. There has been a risk from the creek for a number of years, he said. If someone was playing in the creek every day, there is a higher degree of risk, he said. There is no way of knowing how long property in the vicinity has been exposed to the undue percent of VOCs in the water, he said.

One man said that his children bathed in bad water for at least 16 years. All of the homes that were detected to have bad water are now on filter systems, Batsel said.

North Carolina Sen. John Snow questioned Batsel, asking him if Precision is willing to pay for correcting the problem so that people can drink their water.

Batsel said that they are designing and getting permitted city water lines to serve the area. Between 11 to 16 homes have been identified who qualify for help in hooking up to city water, he said.

"When we finish the study, we will put in place a long-term monitoring program," Bastel said.

Joyce Owenby said she lives a quarter mile outside Greenlawn Cemetery Road. She said she is going to insist that her water be checked.

"I wonder how contaminated Slow Creek is. The creek goes by my property," she said.

Denny Smith owns a pond right behind the plant. The pond is contaminated, he said. City water has already been run to his house but the pond needs to be filled back in, he said. His ducks, dogs and cats drank from the pond and his kids fished in it. He has asked that Clifton Precision purchase his property but they have not given any hope that it will happen.

Windell Anderson said he owns property in front of the Peachtree Community Center. Both of his wells have been condemned, he said. Filters have been installed on the first well. He lives in Hayesville and rents out the house.

"I purchased it (house and land) two years ago and paid a high price. But with it (water) contaminated I can't get half of what I paid for it."

Officials indicated that these are the next steps they intend to take:

• Continue with bottled water at impacted residences

• Continue to share sampling results with impacted residences

• Work with the Town of Murphy and state officials to extend water source west of Hwy. 141 along Greenlawn Cemetery Road.

• Continue to coordinate with the EPA, North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the county health department

Volatile organic compounds found in 2007 in residential well sampling are trichloroethene, tetrachloroethene and methyl tert-butyl ether.