Earlier this year, you joined us in speaking out for clean water and sustainable development by submitting comments and attending public meetings on Henderson County’s Clear Creek Sewer Project. With this project, County Commissioners proposed constructing a new sewer line extending to Edneyville and sought permits for a new wastewater treatment plant that would discharge into Clear Creek — a stream that has already been listed as impaired by the state due to ongoing pollution problems. 

In response to your public pressure and our advocacy, the NC Department of Environmental Quality revised its draft permit to severely limit pollution discharge levels and the overall capacity of a treatment plant in the final permit. That means that the County has had to come up with a better solution that doesn’t further pollute Clear Creek. This is a major victory for protecting water quality. Thank you for making your voice heard!

Public pressure in combination with a stricter permit, rising material and construction costs, and federal funding restrictions made the County’s proposal infeasible. At their recent mid-July meeting, County Commissioners decided to move forward with design for a sewer expansion that connects to the existing City of Hendersonville Wastewater Treatment Plant. This is the outcome we had advocated for since the beginning because the existing City of Hendersonville plant has the capacity to treat wastewater from a new sewer line without adding a new discharge to an impaired stream, and because it is more cost effective. We encourage the City and County to come to the table together with a common vision for the future of sewer service in the area. 

Extending the City’s sewer service to Edneyville also protects water quality by allowing residents to connect to sewer lines, as opposed to depending on septic systems which can fall into disrepair and introduce bacteria and other pollutants into groundwater and waterways. However, because the new County Comprehensive Plan leaves rural development largely unchecked, sewer expansions could facilitate sprawling development to a largely rural and agricultural part of the county. MountainTrue will remain vigilant and we will need you to advocate for responsible land-use ordinances to protect the rural character of the area.

The success to keep Clear Creek free of an unnecessary wastewater discharge is owed to you and your advocacy, thank you! It is great to see what dedicated local residents standing together can accomplish for natural resource protection and the future of our community. 

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