Map of Bingham Road site showing various wells where contaminants were dumped.

For larger, expandable view of map go here

Lab Results May 29, 2012

These two links take you to a Scribd document hosting site.  Both reports are quite long.

Pace Lab Report

NC Division of Water Quality Lab Results

Letters from NC Dept of Environment and Natural Resources on the Bingham Road properties.

Here is a copy of a letter to Dr. Baldwin concerning contamination issues at the Bingham Rd. location. This letter was sent to Dr. Baldwin back in early February.  I'll be posting test results from May 2012 sometime on Saturday.

Here is a link to a PDF file of the actual document PDF with NCDNR letterhead

February 8, 2012

Dr. Tony Baldwin, Superintendent, Buncombe County Schools

Administrative Services Building

175 Bingham Road

Asheville NC 28806

RE: Square D (former) 

128 Bingham Road, Asheville, Buncombe County, NC 

IHSB Incident # NCD00039591878

Champion Finishing Company (former)

200 Bingham Road, Asheville, Buncombe County, NC

IHSB Incident # NONCD0001162   Groundwater Incident #13982

Dear Dr. Baldwin:

On January 27, 2012, Division of Waste Management, Superfund Section’s Inactive Hazardous Sites Branch (IHSB) received a telephone call from a member of the school board regarding contamination in soil and groundwater at the former Square D plant at 128 Bingham Road.  The caller indicated that this property is currently owned by the Buncombe County Board of Education (BCBOE), which is using a building on the site for office space and planning to use the location for classrooms in the future,   This letter is to confirm that there has been a change in the planned future use of the Square D site from its previous use as an industrial facility to space that will be occupied by students. If this is correct, it will be necessary for IHSB to re-evaluate future environmental actions at this site, and the nearby former Champion Finishing site at 200 Bingham Road.  If this is not correct, please let me know immediately using one of the contact methods below.  

Initial investigation identified an additional site with documented contamination nearby, the former Champion Finishing plant at 200 Bingham road. In the week following this call, files for the Square D and Champion Finishing sites were obtained from Raleigh and are being reviewed.  The environmental consultants working on the referenced sites, and their clients, have been notified of a recent change in NCDENR staff assigned to these sites, and current contact information for all involved parties was obtained. 

The caller also inquired about possible environmental issues at 175 Bingham Road, also owned by BCBOE.  There is a potential for contaminants in groundwater to migrate from their original source onto nearby locations. IHSB will not be able to provide an answer regarding this specific location until a comprehensive review of all available documents has been completed.  It would be helpful in completing this sreview if you could provide information on the terms under which the BCBOE acquired the former Square D property, and current and planned future use of any former industrial buildings and parcels in the area that are owned by the BCBOE.  HSB will inform you when it has completed its review.  

If you have any comments, questions, or concerns please let me know.  I can be reached by phone at (704) 663-1699, by email at donna.decarlo@ncdenr.gov, or by using the mailing address or Fax number at the bottom of the first page of this letter.

Sincerely,

Donna DeCarlo, Hydrogeologist

Inactive Hazardous Sites Branch, 

Superfund Section

cc:  Mr. Bryce Wendland

Schneider Electric Company (Formerly Square D)

1717 Center Park Road

Lincoln, Nebraska  68512

Mr. Stephen Barrick

Arcadis US

801 Corporate Center Drive, Suite 300

Raleigh NC  27607-5243

Mr. Stephen R. Berlin

Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP

1001 West Fourth Street

Winston-Salem NC  27101-2400

Mr. Jerry Prosser, P.G.

ERM

800 Corporate Center Drive, Suite 200

Charlotte, NC   28226

WYSIWYG LLC

PO Box 15868

Asheville, NC 28813

Little Shop of Attitude on AshevilleFM

Little Shop of Attitude
Link to audio of show here.


Posted on August 12, 2012
We had Davyne Dial over to the Little Shop of Attitude tonight, and we had a great conversation about the recent goings on at the Buncombe County School Board meetings.
If you are concerned about education in our area, and especially if you have children in or entering the local school system, you are going to want to acquaint yourself with the issues and personalities in play, because there are signs that not all is well. The school system oversees a budget over a quarter of a billion dollars, and it is not at all clear that money is being spent wisely, whether it is a chunk of land with contamination issues they want to put a STEM high school on, or the roofing work started before approved at Enka High, or the $200,000.00 spent preparing for a solar array on top of Enka that may well not happen now because the company that won the RFP contract isn’t solvent enough to get a million dollar loan to make it happen.

Cnt'd....here

Water samples at BC School Board Admin Office. 8.8.12

Recorded live with iPhone

By Catherine Hunter

Buncombe School Board approves hazardous waste testing

In the August 2 meeting, the Buncombe County Board of Education approved testing for possible ground water contamination at their Bingham Rd. office site. According to documentation, Buncombe County Schools Superintendent Dr. Tony Baldwin received a letter from the North Carolina Department of Environmental and Natural Resources about the possible need for future testing. The letter was dated February 8, 2012 and stated the possible need for testing a building located at 128 Bingham Rd. and 200 Bingham Rd., the old Square D plant and the old Champion Finishing Plant. These buildings are across the road from the Buncombe County Schools offices located at 175 Bingham Rd. The letter indicated the question regarding testing was raised by a January 27, 2012 phone call from a Buncombe County School Board member. According to the letter, the school board member who called, stated that the two properties in question, 175 and 200 Bingham Rd. were to be converted from industrial facility space into classrooms. However, according to Board of Education Chairman Bob Rhinehart, the board has no intention of using either property for classrooms.  Rhinehart said the Board is considering converting space in their current offices located at 175 Bingham Rd. for STEM classrooms. The letter also stated the caller inquired about possible environmental issues of the current offices located at 175 Bingham Rd. The letter shows the Old Square D and Champion Finishing plant properties are listed as inactive hazardous sites. Rhinehart and Buncombe County Schools Communications Director Jan Blunt, said the sites were tested and the groundwater wells capped and closed in the 1990’s. These testing wells include one owned by Champion located on the property near the current Buncombe County Schools (BSC) offices. Blunt said since Dr. Baldwin received the letter in February, they have been attempting to get the well on their property at 175 Bingham Rd. tested, but have been unable to get permission from the owner of the well. One email to Dr. Baldwin from BCS Maintenance Director Gregg Fox states, “The monitoring well sampling scheduled to take place today has been cancelled due to the party who installed the well (Champion’s) non response for access.” Blunt said they have finally received permission from Champion to go ahead with testing and that DNR authorities will proceed with a groundwater test on August 8. “After that we will know if we need additional testing,” said Blunt. During the meeting, board members Pat Bryant, Chip Craig and Steven Sizemore all agreed that they would not go forward with classroom plans until thorough testing proved the building was completely safe. “My wife has worked in this building for 17 years, said Bryant. “If the tests show any danger I would get her out and keep students out.” Board member Lisa Baldwin brought up the possible contamination issue during the public comment session of the meeting. She said she spoke during public comment because the board comments had been taken off the agenda. Rhinehart said he had received complaints about the board comments section of the agenda being repetitive and containing the same info every time. “If the board wants to put it back on the agenda they can do so,” he said. Though Baldwin made a motion to ad a board comments period, the motion died for lack of a second. During the meeting, the board also received a report regarding the 2012 ABC’s summary results showing: BCS rate high for growth, have two Schools of Excellence, fifteen Schools of Distinction and seventeen Schools of Progress. The board also approved receipt of a million dollar gift of a softball field for Enka High School, approved naming the circle drive at Black Mountain Primary School and approved a renewal of the Driver’s Education contract. Dr. Baldwin reported that staff and faculty will return to schools on August 13 and students’ first day will be August 16.

June 29, 2012 Budget Meeting BC School Board June 29, 2012

Watch live streaming video from politicsasheville at livestream.com

August 2, 2012 BC School Board Meeting

This School Board Meeting dealt with plans for a STEM school to be located at Buncombe County School  Board Administration offices.  There was much discussion over possible contamination at this location. There is also some update and discussion on the Enka Solar Panel initiative. I've provided some background links for the viewer to gain a good understanding of the facts.

Click here to  link to  background documents from Buncombe County Archives on the Enka Solar Initiative.

Buncombe County Commissioners roundup:

Enka High School solar installation good to go

By Christopher George on 08/03/2011 05:34 AM

TAGS:

• newsblog,
 
• News,
 
• buncombe county commissioners,
 
• enka high school,
• solar energy

At its August 2 meeting, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners approved a measure that paves the way for Enka High School to install solar panels on its roof. The motion was necessary because in order for the Buncombe County Board of Education to lease the roof for a potential solar installation, Commissioners first had to determine that the property would not be otherwise needed by the county for the duration of the expected 20-year lease.

Enka can now move forward with plans to install both photovoltaic and solar water heating systems on the roof beginning in September. In May, the Board of Education issued a request for proposals from solar developers, and held a pre-proposal meeting at the school site with prospective developers. Applications from various developers are being reviewed, and construction on the project is slated to begin next month.

Under the proposal, Enka will lease its roof space to a solar developer who will then claim the state and federal tax credits associated with the system. This arrangement means that no out-of-pocket money will be required from the county school system to pay for the solar system. After six years, the education board will have the option to purchase the system outright.

Additional Commentary on these links.

Solar Proposal At Buncombe Schools Attracts Critics Concerns over secrecy, use of taxpayer money to underwrite private project

Gantt for Buncombe : Solar Panels for Enka High: “A Triple Win”

Discussion of Enka Solar Project is in the last 15 minutes of this video.


BC School Board Meeting part 1



BC School Board Meeting Part 2


Raw footage Buncombe County School Board part 2 from Davyne Dial on Vimeo.