Damage is done: Macon to make changes following damage caused by debris removal
File photo
Over the last few months, Maconians have sounded the alarm on what they see as excessive debris removal in the county’s waterways. Now, as the cleanup effort wraps up, citizens are maintaining pressure, urging elected officials to learn from the debacle and institute safeguards for the future.
“We’ve learned a lot in the process, so there’s some things we’ll know next time to manage this a little bit differently,” said County Manager Warren Cabe.
Debris cleanup is set to wrap up by June 1.
“There’s nothing set to be taken out north of the Iotla bridge and there’s actually no points that have been approved by the corps between the dam and Iotla bridge,” Cabe said.
Chairman Josh Young, Commissioner Gary Shields and Cabe all took an opportunity to speak to the public’s concerns over during the May 13 meeting.
“We opted to go with the Army Corps of Engineers to help with our waterways because they wrote the book on, more or less, a lot of our clean water, they’re the authority,” Young said. “I think we have a lesson learned here and as this is about to wrap up, I think we’re all a little frustrated. Some of the worst parts of the rivers haven’t been cleaned up yet.”
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Although flooding may have been less severe on the Little Tennessee and Cullasaja rivers in Macon County than in other parts of Western North Carolina, the storm did still create buildups of debris that needed to be removed.
“It made sense for counties to opt into debris removal,” said Jason Love, associate director at the Highlands Biological Station and previous site manager at Coweeta Long-Term Ecological Research Program, in comments to the board. “Many places east of us, rivers were devastated, filled with destroyed homes, cars and other large debris. Even in Macon County there were a few areas that needed attention. But what we’re seeing isn’t careful cleanup, it’s widespread clearing that is terribly destructive.”
Cabe said Macon requested assistance with debris removal from a fixed receiving location in Highlands, for roadways and waterways through North Carolina Emergency Management. The state arranged for debris removal to be contracted through the Army Corps of Engineers. The county was asked to provide locations with known debris issues or concerns.
“That information was passed on, and then the USACE evaluated and arranged for the removals,” Cabe told The Smoky Mountain News in April. “The information consisted of general locations and some aerial drone images of various debris spots.”
After that, the technical aspects of what is removed from waterways is managed by the Army Corps of Engineers.
Macon County did not have to contract with any entity for the debris removal, provide funding or request reimbursement as the process is conducted between North Carolina and the USACE. Basically, once Macon County made the request, removal and funding are out of its hands, managed instead by the state and USACE.
Residents and environmental groups are not suggesting that county leaders or even the USACE have bad intentions but that the approach to debris removal is too generalized and possibly incentivized by contractors being paid by the cubic yard debris they remove.
“It needs to be more targeted, not just the whole river,” said Love
According to David Connolly, chief public affairs officer for the USACE Wilmington District, AshBritt was awarded the Advanced Contracting Initiative (ACI) debris removal contract for Region 7.
AshBritt, out of Florida, is a national turnkey rapid-response disaster recovery and special environmental services contractor. In 2019, residents in Northern California filed a federal class action in which they claimed AshBritt removed “excessive amounts of soil” and structures unaffected by recent wildfires. The company, hired by Kentucky after floods ravaged eastern parts of the state in July 2022, was accused in lawsuits following cleanup of allowing subcontractors to steal valuable trees from private property, destroying a family’s home and failing to pay workers.
The USACE contracted with AshBritt for debris removal in rights of way, waterways and private property, as well as commercial property and demolition that are still in the initial stages of scoping and contracting actions.
“There are government quality assurance representatives at every location monitoring the debris removed from the site to ensure the correct material is removed,” said Connolly. “Additionally, there are quality assurance representatives present at the temporary debris reduction sites that are validating the amount of material that is being removed. There are multiple checks and balances throughout the system to ensure what USACE contracted for is delivered.”
According to Connolly, there were 142 sites identified and requested by Macon County that were determined eligible for debris removal. FEMA determined debris eligibility requirements for the Direct Federal Assistance program.
“If FEMA determines the debris to be storm generated or where debris impedes navigation or produces a hazard to safety, it is removed,” said Connolly.
But many residents say that these agencies are getting the distinction between Helene debris, hazardous debris and natural buildup wrong. And that the consequences are dire.
Lifelong Macon resident, angler and educator Zach Tallent came to speak at the May 13 meeting about his concerns for Macon’s waterways.
“As an educator, I’ve witnessed how exposure to healthy, functioning ecosystems can ignite curiosity and care in our students. When children see macroinvertebrates or witness a trout darting beneath a fallen branch, they begin to understand the interconnectedness of life in a watershed,” said Tallent. “While it’s important to ensure navigability and address legitimate flood risks, routine removal of natural woody structures as well as living riparian vegetation often does more harm than good. It strips waterways of their resilience, homogenizes habitat and degrades water quality. Let Macon County be a model of balance where land stewardship not only means the well-being of property owners, but also the integrity of our ecosystems and the prosperity of our local economy.”
Macon County native, small business owner and fly-fishing guide Nick Potts also came to the May 13 meeting to voice his opposition to the breadth of the Army Corps of Engineer’s work in Macon County.
“Like many of you, I was shocked by the Army Corps of Engineers project, which blindsided citizens and local officials,” Potts said. “What’s happening to our rivers is disastrous. Habitats destroyed for contractor profits, worse than the hurricane’s impact.”
“The corps may have meant well, but without oversight this has become a cash cow for contractors benefiting no one else,” Potts added. “They’re removing fish habitats, bank vegetation that prevents erosion and damaging stream beds home to endangered species and threatened species. I’m not here to criticize local officials. I want Macon County residents to unite against a federal agency overreaching and overstaying its welcome.”
Local marine biologist Bill McLarney, who has spent much of his career recording data on the Little Tennessee, said that the debris removal taking place is undoing decades of marked improvements on the river.
“In the past few weeks, 35 years of documented improvement have been partially undone through work carried out by the US Army Corps of Engineers,” said McLarney. “If any of us were to undertake this same work, we would have the Army engineers on our back in a minute and probably be assessed a fine.”
Leland Shockley called on commissioners to do what they could to prevent work from moving forward in such a destructive manner.
“June 1 is not soon enough to get these clowns out of the river and quit destroying these native fish and their habitat,” said Shockley. “We are supporting and encouraging the careless removal of natural debris, living trees, from our rivers and encouraging these guys to do that for larger payouts on these loads, instead of making the native fish and their habitats the priority on this project and it’s disgusting. It makes me sick.”
“You guys need to wake up,” he continued. “The men on this board have the ability, the influence and the power to make changes and stop what is going on. You really do. I voted for you guys and I’m asking for you to stand up for me. Protect our home. Quit letting the senseless destruction of our rivers go on.”
Several residents urged county leaders to put in place some sorts of measures that would prevent incidents like the debris removal currently taking place.
“Macon County could have been better prepared,” said McLarney. “I see an opportunity, drawing in part on our experience with the floodplain issue and on this unpleasant experience we’re having right now, to be better prepared for the next environmental issue which comes up and I’d like to be a part of helping with that.”
Shields suggested revisiting the Water Quality Advisory Committee, which helped advise county leaders over the last year as it reviewed and amended its floodplain ordinances. The committee is made up of nine volunteer experts in aquatic management.
“I’d like for the commissioners to look at the Water Quality Advisory Committee to help us as we go through some of this,” said Shields. “When you try to do things and you don’t know what you’re doing, you need help. I think looking at the past history and the information I have now, the Water Quality Advisory Committee is something that I’d like to come back to later and talk to the board about and the duties of that group and the expertise they have.”
Young also said he wanted to institute more local oversight on future issues that involve the health of Macon’s waterways.
“In the future when this happens, I think we’re going to take a more calculated look at this and have some more local authority with some local oversight,” said Young. “I think that’s one of the big issues is having vested people from the community overlook these creeks. There’s a lot of people here very passionate about that.”
