From Staff Reports

SKYLAND ó A group of residents living near a former CTS of Asheville plant have taken initial steps toward a lawsuit against the former and current owners of the Mills Gap Road property over water contamination from the plant.

The 29 residents involved have filed a letter of intent to sue CTS Corp., current owners Mills Gap Road Associates and former developer The Biltmore Group.

The residents hope to force the companies to clean up trichloroethylene, or TCE, on and around the 57-acre property, where CTS used to manufacture industrial switches.

The letter notes that TCE has been found to pose a threat to humans and the environment.

The action comes after officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Buncombe County began testing wells within a one-mile radius of the site on Nov. 27.

At least 75 wells, and possibly as many as 90, will be tested, according to David Dorian, on-scene coordinator for the EPA.

Sampling in 1999 and 2000 found high levels of TCE in springs nearby, forcing some residents to switch to city water.

However, subsequent testing did not indicate that the contamination had spread.

To date, about 1,600 pounds of TCE have been removed from the site through a soil vapor extraction system installed in 2006.
But state testing in August found that levels of TCE in areas near the former plant had not dropped significantly.

The state plans to take samples of water and soil from a nearby creek further downstream and to test additional wells beyond the one-mile radius.