To the Editor:

Becky Johnson’s report on the Canton and paper mill landfills gives me a much-needed better understanding of the massive mounds that have been accumulating beside I-40 I’ve been passing by over the years. While I knew that these landfills were predominately being developed from wastes of the paper mill, I did not have any knowledge of how hydrology from these landfills would be affecting neighbors’ well water nor the river from outflows.

Certainly the hydrologic contamination patterns must be interrupted as we are accumulating massive amounts of coal ash. Moving accumulated elements from coal beds in Kentucky or elsewhere and concentrating them in coal ash as waste byproducts does not address how the hydrology in our local environment will be affecting us. Unlike the coal ash ponds near the generating plants, drying coal ash dumps must be a better way, as the Evergreen Packaging plant is currently doing. The next question to ask is how are the pollutants from the landfill operations for the wastewater treatment plant finally dealt with? 

Air pollution and water pollution are linked also. When I was a child, little was known about managing pollutants from Canton’s paper mill and Enka’s rayon plant. There were occasional days that the odors from one or both those plants drifted through the morning air to our farm in the Fruitland Community east of Hendersonville. Those air pollutants were being dealt with much better in recent years and somewhere those air pollutants had to either be decomposed or dispersed in other ways, meaning some may have made its way into water. This was followed by procedures to clear up water hydrology and this has been a significant advancement in the past couple of decades. It is good to have a local agent, Marc Pruett, and state agent, David Ramey, oversee these operations.

Keeping our mountain air and water fresh and clean is always a primary need for all those living or visiting here.

Dan Pittillo

Sylva