The owner of a rental trailer in the Cruso community of Haywood County will be locked up until he complies with a court order to stop spilling raw sewage onto the ground.

One month after low oxygen levels killed the bacteria needed to process sewage at the Cherokee Wastewater Treatment Plant, discharge flowing back into the Oconaluftee River is still on the cloudy side as employees work to get the plant fully back online. It’s not clear exactly what killed the bacteria, but the best guess is it has something to do with 8 tons of sand employees removed right around the time the bacteria crashed. 

A rural sewer system in Jackson County is headed toward bankruptcy unless it can drum up 200 customers in the sparsely populated Whittier area. 

It’s a tough sell though, witnessed by the paltry 40 customers along the sewer line now.

Jackson County commissioners questioned the wisdom of a last-ditch effort to find more customers for the Whittier sewer system at a county meeting Monday.

Commissioner also signaled reluctance to put up county money for a plan they saw as less than ideal. 

The commercial corridor of the Canton exit off Interstate 40 has been in a vice grip for several years due to a maxed out sewer line.

To relieve sewer gridlock in the Cashiers area, the Tuckasegee Water and Sewer Authority may change its rules to let developers swap, transfer and even sell unused sewer capacity.

Sewage and what to do with it has posed a complicated set of problems for the community of Cashiers — problems that could put in peril the area’s economic development as much as the public’s health.

The tribal council for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians recently approved a $28 million upgrade for the sewage treatment plant, which will double the capacity and accommodate demand fueled in part by growth of Harrah’s Cherokee Casino.

Greg Snyder was perturbed when he addressed the Maggie Valley Board of Aldermen in June.

In March, Snyder had plunked down $4,625 to connect five new RV sites at Twinbrook Resorts to the town’s sewer system. Less than two weeks later, the town board voted to change its sewer tap fee rates.

Waynesville has once again denied Haywood County’s proposition for extending its sewer lines several miles beyond the town limits toward Balsam along U.S. 23/74.

The county has asked the town to augment its sewer lines near the rest stop a couple of times before, specifically to serve a roadside rest area. But, new sewer lines would also bring the possibility of new and potentially uncontrolled commercial development along that stretch of highway.