Canton wastewater woes bubbling up again
Canton’s wastewater plant sits at the center of a costly standoff.
Haywood GIS photo
A looming deadline on a critical wastewater agreement has exposed a growing divide between Canton officials and their private partner, with negotiations stalled over cost, oversight and the data needed to shape the town’s long-term infrastructure plans.
Town leaders confirmed they do not yet have an extension in place for wastewater treatment services as the current agreement with mill site owner Eric Spirtas was set to expire at 5 p.m. March 31 — when The Smoky Mountain News went to print — leaving only days to resolve a dispute that has been building over months.
For decades, the mill’s owners treated the town’s municipal wastewater at nearly no cost to the town, but when the decision to close the mill was announced on March 6, 2023, the future of wastewater treatment became an urgent concern.
Spirtas purchased the mill site in January 2025 and operated the plant at his own expense for several months until coming to an agreement with the town that May.
Although residents benefitted from cost-free wastewater treatment for more than 60 years, many expressed outrage when the town had to raise rates significantly to pay Spirtas’ $140,000 monthly bill.
Efforts to secure a simple extension through the end of the year broke down after Spirtas sought additional compensation, forcing the board to weigh further rate increases against mounting pressure from residents already struggling with higher costs. Negotiations had been ongoing for more than a month but had reached an impasse.
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“We are very actively in negotiation,” said Jeffrey Goss, an attorney who’s been handling various matters associated with redevelopment for the town. “We’ve been trying to get there, but we’ve had a bit of a stalemate.”
Officials framed the disagreement as more than a contract dispute, pointing to deeper concerns about transparency and the need for independent verification of wastewater flows and composition.
That push for better data comes as the town prepares to design and build a new wastewater treatment plant, a process that depends heavily on accurate information about volume and chemical makeup.
Mayor Zeb Smathers said the town would not move forward without reliable data.
“We just can’t take someone’s word for what is happening down there. We have been down this path before by trusting a company,” Smathers said of the mill site’s previous owner, Pactiv Evergreen. “We’re not doing that again.”
To address those concerns, both sides have been working toward a separate agreement focused on testing and sampling, including the installation of new equipment and shared access to results. Engineers are expected to collect data over time, accounting for seasonal changes such as rainfall, before it can be used to guide design decisions.
Even with that progress, the financial dispute remains unresolved.
“This board has no appetite, nor do we feel that the rates of the Town of Canton and its citizens need to be raised any more than $140,000, and that has clearly been expressed to the company,” Smathers said.
Canton’s rate increase was a difficult but necessary step, taken at a time when many households were already facing rising costs for housing, fuel and basic goods. That broader affordability crisis continues to shape the board’s approach as it negotiates the next phase of the agreement.
Concerns about environmental accountability also surfaced during discussion, with officials emphasizing the importance of understanding how wastewater is being handled and ensuring the newly revitalized Pigeon River is protected.
While negotiations remain unresolved, town officials expressed confidence that wastewater treatment will continue even if the agreement lapses, noting there are no immediate concerns about service disruption or environmental risk.
“There’s no magical valves that can be turned or switched, that can be flipped, to stop flows going to that plant,” said Goss, who currently serves as the chair of the Tuckasegee Water and Sewer Authority and has a base of knowledge on municipal water infrastructure.
Goss’ assurance provides some short-term stability, but it does little to resolve the underlying conflict, which now centers on how much the town should pay, how data will be verified and how quickly both sides can reach terms.
Without an agreement, Canton risks entering uncertain territory at a moment when accurate data and stable costs are essential to planning the next generation of wastewater infrastructure — a system that will shape the town’s growth, environmental health and financial outlook for decades.
