"Buried Secrets" documentary script

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For the first time, we investigate the whole story behind a toxic Superfund site in South Asheville. The EPA's Inspector General launched a criminal investigation into the EPA's handling of the CTS site that dozens of Buncombe County residents believe made them sick. We're taking an in-depth look into contamination at the site that has recently been listed as one of the most highly prioritized Superfund sites in the country.

The environmental protection agency is now investigating itself to see if it did enough to protect the people living near the old "CTS" plant which is now a hazardous waste site in South Asheville.  Two North Carolina lawmakers want an oversight committee to see if EPA officials violated the law and they’re also calling for Congressional hearings in this case. Investigative reporter Mike Mason presents this special in-depth look into what many call buried secrets.
 

More than three decades have passed since the old CTS site here was first added to the list of Superfund sites.  Since then, little has been done to clean it up. There are many still living in the shadow of the old CTS plant. Some are battling cancer and other terminal illnesses, they say, was caused by exposure to toxic chemicals like Trichloroethylene, or TCE. Others fear they'll suffer a similar fate down the road.

CTS's corporate headquarters are based in Elkhart, Indiana. The company manufactures electronic components at plants around the world. When doing business in Asheville from 1959 to 1986 the company used the chemical, TCE, to clean and degrease those components.

In 1990, four years after CTS shut down its Asheville plant, the EPA hired a company to test the site for contamination. The company found toxic chemicals in the soil and water and, to this day, they haven't been cleaned up. Those who live nearby say this problem has remained buried far too long. Dot Rice says, "Our whole life has been destroyed."

Dot and Larry Rice live right next door to the CTS site. Their family has owned this property since the 1950's. Larry was a highly decorated veteran and during his long career in the military he and Dot lived near numerous military bases. When he finally retired, they settled in to their South Asheville home.  Dot Rice explains, "We had planned for this to be our home and to leave it to our kids and my husband had been in Vietnam and survived the Agent Orange."

But Larry would soon face another battle with an enemy he never saw coming. Dot remembers, "April of '99 my husband had been diagnosed with a brain tumor." At the age of sixty one, Dot Rice now had a new full time job taking care of her sick husband.   She was devastated saying, "He retires in November, he gets sick in April." It wasn't long before Dot became sick herself and was later diagnosed with skin cancer and two thyroid tumors.  Dot recalls, "One of my tumors, I couldn't speak for four months."

The Rice's thought their health problems may have been genetic. After all, Dot's father-in-law, Clifford Rice, lived on the property and died of esophageal cancer a few years before. But when Dot's twenty one year old granddaughter, Devin, was given a serious diagnosis in 1999, she knew it was more than just genetics. Dot says, "She started having blurred vision and was blacking out and then they discovered a brain tumor on her too that year." To this day, Devin struggles to cope with problems associated with her brain tumor which doctors have ruled 'inoperable'.  When investigative reporter Mike Mason asked Dot, “How do you keep going?"  She replied, "It's hard, it's really hard sometimes."   

In 1990, the Rice family didn't know their well water was contaminated but records show EPA officials did know and, for some reason, failed to notify residents until 1999. It’s something Dot also has trouble understanding saying, "It was just unbelievable that EPA would do that."

In 1990, the EPA's Superfund division hired the company, "NUS", to test for toxic chemicals at the CTS site. A map obtained by News 13 indicates NUS also went to the Rice's property next door and tested the sediment in their spring, the same spring that flowed into the Rice's well and supplied the family with their drinking water.  The tests were positive for the toxic chemical, Dichloroethene, or DCE. After testing, NUS issued a report stating: "DCE and vinyl chloride are degradation products of TCE." Scientists we spoke with say the presence of DCE most always indicates there's also a source of TCE nearby. Professor Jeff Wilcox tells us, "It breaks down into DCE, vinyl chloride and it's a carcinogen, so it's known to cause cancer."

According to the EPA, both chemicals are linked to cancer and other serious health problems. NUS and the EPA's records both show, after finding DCE in the Rice's stream, NUS did no additional testing for TCE on the Rice property.  They did, however, test for both DCE and TCE in two of the streams on the CTS site and both chemicals were detected. The level of TCE in the water was sixteen times higher than the state's regulated limit.

When NUS gathered those samples in June of 1990, they never got the Rice's permission to even test on their property.  More importantly, both NUS and the EPA failed to notify the Rice's their spring water was contaminated with a chemical linked to cancer.

Dot Rice is outraged saying, "They knew about it." When Mason asked her, "How could they do that?” Rice replied, "That's what I keep asking, how could you do it?"

The Rice's neighbors, Mack and Becky Robinson, had also been drinking well water that came from the Rice's spring.  Around that same time they too were having health problems. Becky Robinson tells us, "My thyroid shut down. I have a lot of joint and ache pains all the time, the fibromyalgia." Becky's mother-in-law, Ethel, lived next door and passed away suddenly in 2008. The Robinsons were shocked to learn cancer had spread throughout Ethel's pancreas, liver and colon. Becky claims, "She was healthy; she was healthy as an ox."

At the time, Becky's daughter, Shannon, also began battling a series of health problems. During her childhood, Shannon had her gallbladder removed, her appendix burst and her body was covered in cysts. At the age of 18 she became pregnant and health records show she had even more problems. Shannon recalls, "Then finally my son was born six weeks early. I got preeclampsia and toxemia and my liver had shut down." EPA reports state: "Ingesting even small amounts of TCE over a long period may cause liver and kidney damage, impaired immune system and impaired fetal development in pregnant women." 

Two years after having her first son, Shannon gave birth to a second baby boy.  Both were born premature and both were diagnosed with compromised immune systems. Shannon herself has undergone more surgeries than many people have in a lifetime. Shannon tried to count them, "Twelve or thirteen, and this was within a seven year period." Then, by the age of twenty four, Shannon needed a total hysterectomy.

Today, at the age of thirty seven, Shannon still relies on potent painkillers, such as Methadone, to cope with her medical issues. Shannon's life-long dream of becoming a nurse had been shattered. Her mother, Becky, broke into tears remembering how, "She could have made something of herself."

In 1990, the Rice's and Robinsons knew nothing about the testing going on next door at the CTS site. They had no reason to believe their developing health problems could be related to their drinking water but that would soon change.

In 1990, the Rice's friend, Dave Ogren, was so concerned he called North Carolina's Division of Environment and Natural Resources, or "NCDENR".  Ogren remembers that day when he thought, "Whoa, something is not right." The state report shows Ogren told officials he suspected the Rice's well water was contaminated by chemicals on the CTS site and he wanted to know if that was causing their "health problems". After reporting the problem Ogren says, "I just made my call and figured it's all taken care of, everything's going to be handled." But the state didn't contact the Rices. Even so, the Rice family still felt something just wasn't right. Dot remembers, "We continued to smell something really bad."

It would be nearly a decade before the Rice's, or any other residents, were told about any contamination. Dot gets upset thinking about it, "We had been drinking water that EPA knew had been tested and they knew it nine years before we did."

In 1980, CTS was required to submit a "Notification of Hazardous Waste Activity" to the EPA.  In the report, CTS acknowledged generating and disposing of hazardous wastes off-site.  As a result, the EPA added the CTS property to its inventory of Superfund sites that year, in 1980. Then, in 1985, CTS submitted an "Assessment Report", which was required by state law so officials could gauge any potential risks to the public. CTS reported the: "Nearest residents lived 500 yards", or 1500 feet, "away from the plant….and they all used city water.”

Local activist Tate MacQueen says, “These two statements are factually incorrect." But state officials didn't question the information from CTS and two weeks later they sent a letter to the EPA's Superfund division. The state reiterated what CTS had reported to them, claiming, "There are no known drinking wells in the area…and the site poses no threat to human health.”  They then ranked the site as a "Low Priority". State and EPA officials accepted CTS's report without question.

In 1990, five years after receiving the CTS report, the EPA hired a private company called "NUS" to thoroughly inspect the old CTS site to assess whether conditions had changed.  NUS inspectors came to Asheville and soon found information that conflicted with the CTS report. After reviewing records from the Buncombe County Water Department, NUS found there were seven hundred and fourteen homes within four miles of the CTS plant that relied on private wells for drinking water, despite what CTS had reported in 1985. But, in 1990, NUS also overlooked something very important.

While conducting a risk assessment for the EPA, NUS listed the closest private well as being four thousand feet away from the CTS site when, in fact, the Rice family lived right next door. Their well was only about fifty feet away.  Dot Rice says this was one of a series of missteps, "I just think EPA has just made mistakes from the very beginning." We contacted the EPA and a representative from NUS to find out what happened but they haven't provided an explanation.

We know the Rice's, along with many other nearby families, were living closer than four thousand feet away from the old CTS site.  In 1990, many people were using wells for their drinking water but, for some reason, NUS failed to include those families in their report. As a result, any potential risk associated with their drinking water was also overlooked. Dot says a simple question would have revealed, "We were using spring water." MacQueen echoes her feelings stating, "It seems like you could have knocked on some doors." For the past six years, high school history teacher, Tate MacQueen, has made it his mission to uncover the truth. He and his family live less than a mile from the CTS site.  He's the Vice President of a community action group focused on getting the site cleaned up. Soon after moving to the area he realized, "This is a major contamination zone."

In 2010, MacQueen and twenty four other families filed a civil lawsuit against CTS Corporation.  In court documents, they claim CTS caused the contamination, which has created a "Continual Nuisance". The plaintiffs claim the contamination has harmed both their health and property values.  The suit demands CTS clean up the site immediately and compensate affected families.  In September, CTS appealed the lawsuit to the U.S. Supreme Court. We tried to speak with CTS officials about the case, but they haven't returned our calls.

MacQueen filed the lawsuit in 2010, after learning NUS had tested the Rice's springs in 1990, without their permission. Before that, the only thing the Rice's knew was that their well water had always tasted horrible. MacQueen says, "They didn't know the reason it tasted bad was because it was full of contaminants." The Rice's say they would have stopped using their well water immediately in 1990 if NUS or the EPA had simply warned them about the contamination.  Dot says, "It was hard to believe that somebody that is supposed to be protecting the people would do that to a family."

NUS completed the site inspection of CTS in 1991. Even though NUS found TCE and other toxic chemicals at the site, the EPA decided "No Further Action" was needed to clean it up. NUS's report stated the contamination could "Potentially affect the air as well as the ground and surface water", they determined the "on-site exposure is not of concern because a (chain link) fence (around the plant) limits access to the facility." EPA officials agreed with the findings and issued their final report in 1991. That same day, the EPA 'archived' CTS, essentially removing it from their list of Superfund sites. Nearby residents had no idea this had even happened.  Dot feels, "You don't expect people to do things like that."

Meanwhile, Dot and Larry Rice were convinced their well water wasn't safe to drink.  During a drought in 1986, they shelled out fifteen hundred dollars to connect their home to city water. When the drought ended later that year they continued using well water off and on. But the Rice's two sons who lived on the same property next door didn't have a choice. Dot shakes her head remembering how, "The two boys over there were still drinking the water." In fact, her sons relied exclusively on well water. 

Then, in 1999; tragic news, Larry was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  That same year, just a few months later, the Rice's complained to state officials to say they felt their spring water was contaminated. Dot remembers that’s finally when, "They started doing some testing and they came up with the TCE." State inspectors found TCE in both the Rice's spring and the Robinsons' well water. That day in 1999 was the first time residents were told their water was contaminated.  Even then, both the EPA and NUS failed to disclose the fact they knew about contamination nine years earlier, back in 1990. Dot is convinced, "They would have let us die."

Both families suspected TCE is what caused their health problems, but a local Oncologist we spoke with says proving that is nearly impossible. Doctor Shonda Asaad says, "We really don't know a whole lot about the long-term exposure, except the links to cancer."

In 1999, the EPA reported finding "Extremely high levels of TCE in the Rice's spring”, twenty one thousand parts per billion. That’s seven thousand times the state's regulated limit of three parts per billion in water. In 1999, the EPA put the CTS site back on the Superfund list and quickly issued an "Emergency Action Memo" stating 'Immediate Action' must be taken. Officials provided both families with bottled water and, soon after, connected city water lines to the Robinson's house and the two homes belonging to the Rice's sons.  EPA officials then delivered a harsh warning to both families.  Becky Robinson recalls them telling her, "The water is very dangerous; you're not to drink it. You're not to bathe in it, you're not to wash clothes in it, wash dishes in it, it's very dangerous."

In 2007, the EPA fenced off three acres of the Rice's property around their springs.  At the time the Rice's were away in Florida. When Dot returned she couldn’t believe it, "Without even telling us they were going to do it they did it." Dot worried things were getting very serious. She wondered how long her family's water had been contaminated and whether that caused their health problems.

Dot says, "I was angry and I was devastated." Clues to some of her questions began to surface that year at Asheville's Pack Library. In 2007, the EPA sent a binder of information to the library. It soon caught the attention of local chemist, Barry Durand.   It was the EPA's Administrative Record for the CTS site. The law requires the EPA to make these reports available to the public near Superfund sites where contamination must be cleaned up because it poses a threat to people's health.

Durand noticed the "official record" was incomplete, so he questioned Buncombe County's Hazardous Waste officials. Durand asked, "Why were certain pages missing? And, basically, I really didn't get much of an answer."

Durand then photographed each page of the report, cover to cover. A decision that would later prove to be crucial. Durand recalls, "It paid off because the Administrative Record was removed." Just six weeks after arriving at the library in 2007, Durand says that record mysteriously disappeared.  He found this troubling, considering these documents are required under Federal law.

Durand felt he could be on to something big.  So he and MacQueen contacted the EPA's point person at the time, David Dorian, who admitted removing the records. MacQueen contends, "David Dorian has said to me, on two different occasions, that he removed the Administrative Record because the librarians were concerned that his files were taking up too much space." But the head librarian, Anne Wright, still works at the library and tells us that's not true. Dorian won't comment because of the EPA's on-going criminal investigation.

At that point, MacQueen began to suspect the EPA was trying to hide something. He reviewed Durand's photos of the EPA's Administrative Record.  The report detailed NUS's testing back in 1990 but it stopped abruptly on page 16, in mid-sentence, right before revealing the test results. MacQueen remembers how other pages were also gone, "The references were missing and the summary was missing, so where's the rest of the story?" That story began to unfold in 2010, after MacQueen and Durand obtained additional records from the state's file on CTS.

The state's copy of the 1990 testing report included many of the pages that were missing from the EPA's report, including those which showed NUS had taken samples from the Rice's private property, all without their permission. The state's report showed how NUS sampled the sediment in the Rice's spring in 1990 and found the toxic chemical, DCE, which the EPA says is linked to cancer. Scientists say small traces of DCE indicate there's a source nearby with even higher levels of TCE. But, according to the report, NUS didn't test for TCE on the Rice's property.

Professor Jeff Wilcox was perplexed saying, "I don't know why TCE was not tested for or was not reported." Mike Mason then asked Wilcox, "As a scientist that doesn't make any sense?" Wilcox replied, "No, it doesn't."

Professor Wilcox teaches Environmental Science and Geography at UNC Asheville.  He says it's highly unusual to not test for TCE when DCE has been detected, "It doesn't make any sense to me why you would test for DCE and not also test for TCE and it doesn't make any sense once you detected DCE that you wouldn't go back and test for TCE, if you hadn't already."

We contacted both NUS and the EPA for an explanation but they haven't responded.  The NUS report also shows they cancelled all four of the groundwater tests they had originally scheduled around the CTS site in 1990. Wilcox says those early tests could have shown whether chemicals had begun seeping into residents' drinking water. The EPA won't comment on this and there's nothing in the report to explain why those tests were cancelled.

It wasn't until 2010 that Dot Rice finally learned the truth about the testing done on her property back in 1990, some two decades after the EPA knew about the contamination. MacQueen remembers the day he told her, "We asked her; 'Hey did you know the EPA sampled your property on June 26th at 9:30 in the morning in 1990? And she said, 'No, I did not know that' and it was heartbreaking."

When Shannon Robinson found out she was devastated, "It makes me mad because they knew, way before my kids were even thought of, that this was going on with the water." Other residents living nearby were also upset the EPA didn't tell them about the contamination either. MacQueen says he doesn’t understand, "Why wouldn't you go and knock on the door and say, 'What's your water source?'" Dot Rice was in total disbelief saying, “It was hard to believe that somebody that is supposed to be protecting the people would do that."

People wanted answers and so did News 13. After requesting interviews with EPA officials for months, we were finally allowed to speak with Samantha Urquhart-Foster. She's the EPA's Region 4 project manager currently assigned to the CTS Superfund site.

We spoke with her from her office in Atlanta via satellite.  But first, officials made it clear we only had about fifteen minutes and we couldn't ask questions about what the EPA had done in the past. Urquhart-Foster told us, "If you're talking about things which happened before my time period, which has been in the past two and a half years, I'm not prepared to answer those questions."

MacQueen and Durand had questions about what CTS's role was in all of this. They also wanted to know why the EPA waited until 1999 to tell residents about any contamination, thirteen years after CTS had already left town.

Records show state officials first learned about the chemicals at CTS back in 1980. That's when the General Manager for CTS's Asheville plant, Charles Beitner, applied for a "Hazardous Waste Permit."  That permit was required by the state to track the use and disposal of toxic chemicals at CTS. In 1980, CTS reported generating more than 100,000 pounds of toxic waste annually. They divided the waste in to three categories: Chemicals, Sludge and Solvents. Beitner says CTS used TCE as a solvent to clean grease off electrical components. Doctor Asaad knows how dangerous working with TCE can be saying, "There are several cancers that have been linked to TCE in humans."

In 1985, the EPA did its first assessment of CTS. They reviewed the state's file on CTS, which included information provided by the company itself. CTS had reported: "Hazardous wastes have never been disposed on-site or released into the environment. The nearest residents were located 500 yards away and there are no known drinking wells in the area." The EPA used CTS's information to rank the site and determine whether it posed any risk to the public.  MacQueen says, "The closer you have people to the source that could be a target, the greater emphasis they'll put on a site as possibly posing a risk." That's when state and EPA officials determined the CTS plant posed little risk and ranked it as a "Low Priority."

MacQueen says this was "misinformation" that helped set the stage for what would later become a hazardous waste site, "If you diminish the risk by saying no one lives near here, plus they're all on city water, then on paper, it's no big deal and it was a big deal." It would later become a huge deal for the Rice and Robinson families.

In 1999, the EPA announced their drinking water was contaminated with high levels of TCE.  The two families hired an attorney and threatened to sue CTS, claiming the company contaminated their springs and well and that's what caused their health problems. Mason asked Dot Rice, "What did you want to be done?"  Dot replied, "A clean-up, we never asked for a lot of money and we never got a lot of money." In 2005, after six years of negotiations, the Rice and Robinson families signed a settlement agreement with CTS.

They say their attorney felt there wasn't enough documented proof at that time to prove CTS caused the contamination and they were advised to take a cash settlement. In the settlement, the families agreed to never sue CTS again and CTS denied any liability. Becky Robinson remembers what CTS representatives told her, "They said you cannot scientifically prove that TCE had caused any of our problems." Medical experts say it is difficult to prove TCE at any specific plant is to blame but the EPA's own research shows exposure to TCE does cause cancer and many other health problems. 

Two years later, in 2007, critical information about the CTS site was finally released to the public when the EPA sent the Administrative Record to the Pack Library in Asheville.  That record documented the EPA's testing for contamination at the CTS site back in 1990. It also detailed the EPA's 1999 test results when high levels of TCE were found at both the CTS site and the Rice's springs. The Administrative Record also included the EPA's Action Memo from 2002 stating the levels of TCE will increase and contaminants will "migrate away from the site" if they weren't cleaned up immediately. MacQueen states, "They said the site posed a risk to public health and that it was time critical."

The Rice and Robinson families feel the information in the Administrative Record would have supported their case against CTS. Especially since it indicated how EPA officials knew the contamination was migrating away from the CTS site and onto the Rice property since 1990. But the EPA didn't release that record until 2007, two years after the families had already settled with CTS.

In 2009, public pressure prompted local leaders to question how contamination from the CTS site got so out of control. We obtained footage from a Buncombe County Commission meeting in April of 2009.

Commissioners, such as Bill Stanley, publicly questioned state officials from NCDENR.  Stanley angrily demanded to know what they were doing to clean up the Superfund site asking, “Are you going to make CTS clean up that mess out there?  This is some bull s***t!  Absolute positive, are you gonna' do it? Can you make them clean it up?"  NCDENR’s Bruce Parris calmly replied, "All of the work that is being done is to make CTS clean up the property."

Commissioner Stanley then told officials about a conversation he previously had with former CTS official, Norman Lewis. Lewis was the company's Hazardous Waste Coordinator and worked at the Asheville plant from 1959 to 1986.

Stanley announced, "Norman passed away a couple of years ago and they dumped it 'cause when this first came up I asked, "What you do out there?" they said, "Yeah, we did". But it wasn't illegal at the time, by what they were saying, and it wasn't evidently. But it is now and they should be the one to clean it up, they should be smart enough to know it was illegal then. That stuff's not going to help the ground, we just need to stay on them my friend and get it done, get it done." Bruce Parris with NCDENR then replied, “Our laws do not distinguish whether it was okay to dump in the past or not. They have to clean it up."

Later in the meeting, NCDENR’s liaison to the EPA, James Bateson, spoke about the effects of TCE in the drinking water saying, "Ground water is another question. Certainly the Rice family, those two households, were being exposed to trichloroethylene in their spring box, those two families, over a long period of time. And it's not a comfortable thing to talk about that." Buncombe County Commissioner David Gantt then asked Bateson, "Was that definitively attributed to the CTS plant?" Bateson replied, "Pretty clear."

In 2010, state and EPA officials met with residents about the contamination. A community activist, who is not affiliated with the CTS action group, video-taped the meeting as Bateson made this bold statement, "The fact that CTS released these compounds in the environment is easy to prove." Last month, Bateson emailed News 13 saying, "State and EPA testing in 1999 proves TCE was released in the soil beneath the former CTS plant". We were unable to reach CTS officials for a comment but CTS has stayed in touch with the EPA. 

In 2004, the EPA listed CTS and the site's current owner as 'potentially responsible parties'.  Mills Gap Road Associates currently owns the nine acre gated portion of the site. They purchased the fifty four acre property from CTS in 1987 and later sold forty five acres to a company that developed the upscale subdivision, Southside Village. Mills Gap denies having anything to do with chemicals while they owned the property.  As a result, they refused to sign the EPA's Consent Order accepting liability. Last year, CTS officials did sign it and agreed to pay for future testing and cleanup.

The EPA is required to identify all companies that may be responsible for contamination before a site can be placed on the National Priorities List. That list helps to expedite a clean-up. In 2012, the EPA finally added the CTS site to the list. Dot Rice wonders, "We're on the National Priorities List so why don't they make it a priority, that's what it's supposed to be." However, there's no timeline as to when CTS will finish the clean-up. Some residents question why CTS is even allowed to clean up the same site they're accused of contaminating. They say that's like the fox guarding the hen house. 

EPA officials disagree and Urquhart-Foster defends CTS saying, "Their contractors are doing the work, EPA is doing the oversight to make sure they're following all the regulations. This past July, the EPA issued a letter to Congressman Patrick McHenry stating their research: "Supports the (EPA's) determination that TCE has been released from the CTS facility. At this time, the EPA has no reason to believe that other sources are contributing to the release of TCE from this site."

So now, 27 years after CTS moved out of Asheville, the EPA's lengthy investigation has ‘officially’ determined TCE did come from the CTS site. Still, neither NCDENR, nor the EPA, have provided evidence that CTS knowingly dumped TCE or even mishandled it. 

Since CTS officials in Indiana haven't returned our calls, we went straight to the man who ran the Asheville plant for answers. Charles Beitner was CTS's General Manager of the plant for twenty three years. Now, at the age of 88, from the front porch of his South Asheville home, Beitner broke his silence for the first time ever.

Beitner recalls CTS having its share of problems. For instance, workers were fiercely divided between those who joined the union and those who didn't. Beitner says that tension created a hostile work environment, "The situation we had with the union there, people weren't going to speak up." Beitner says even though the atmosphere was tense, there was one thing everyone agreed on, "It's hazardous to be around that TCE if you breathe it."

After CTS shut down in 1986, officials wanted to sell the property but first had to hire a company to test the site for contamination. That's when they found high levels of TCE in the soil under the plant's plating room where TCE was primarily used. 

What Beitner says about this is very important. He claims workers kept TCE inside a concrete tank called a "degreaser".  Workers would heat up the degreaser from the bottom while keeping the top open. Heat caused the chemicals to vaporize and those steamy vapors would clean off the electrical components workers had placed inside a basket above the chemicals in the degreasing tank. 
Beitner tells us, "The degreaser sits in a concrete pit, if you want to call it that. So that's the area where the high concentration's at.” Mike Mason then asked, "Ok, I guess there was no liner?" Beitner responded, "Yeah, that's what I'm saying. There should have been something under the concrete pit to prevent it from going into the soil."

After TCE was found in the soil, Beitner says EPA officials interviewed him about it. He then called his boss, Marv Gobles, at CTS's headquarters, to let him know.  Beitner claims they were both surprised to learn TCE was detected at such high levels. Beitner recalls, "I reported to Marv Gobles and he said, 'Well, you don't have to worry about it, we'll take care of it,' you know." Mason then asked, "Marvin Gobles was alarmed?" Beitner replied, "Oh yeah, and that's what he told me, 'I can't believe it.' I said I can't believe it either."

Mason continued to question Beitner asking, "So do you think CTS is at fault?" Beitner paused and then sighed, "Inadvertently. Not knowingly, that something was going wrong. The only thing I wish is that the EPA would take care of the situation and get these people taken care of before they all die off."

School teacher Tate MacQueen and chemist Barry Durand have spent years researching the contamination at the CTS site and how the EPA has handled it. MacQueen says, "My first objective was to make sure my family was safe so I didn't feel like I had a choice, I had to get involved." MacQueen says EPA officials have refused to give him certain documents related to the site.

This past June, News 13 sent the EPA a Freedom of Information Act Request for any, and all, EPA documents related to the CTS site.  A few weeks later they sent us three CD's containing nearly 63,000 pages of information. The task of reviewing all of those documents took News 13 several months. We noticed many of the records we received had never been released to the public, despite numerous requests for them by both activists and lawmakers.

MacQueen was alarmed, "While we've been asking for all these documents, you asked for it and within ten days you've got 62,922 pages." Durand and MacQueen were familiar with many of the files and helped us to locate certain reports, some were scattered in between documents, some buried beneath layers of folders.  MacQueen believes, "We found the tip of the iceberg, that's what we've been working with. They delivered to you the iceberg. Now all we have to do is melt it, all we have to do is go through and read it."

In those documents we found the original study plan from NUS's 1990 testing.  It included a map and plans detailing each area NUS had originally planned to sample for the EPA in order to gauge whether the contamination was spreading. According to the map, NUS and EPA officials never intended to do any testing on the Rice's property back in 1990. MacQueen says, "That map changes the way we look at the site literally." Part of the newly released documents may explain why the EPA switched locations.

In 1990, just two months before testing began, the state sent the EPA a complaint made by the Rice’s friend, Dave Ogren, who reported his suspicion that the CTS site was contaminating the Rice's drinking water. Then, one week before testing, the state sent that complaint directly to NUS and, once again, they also sent a copy to the EPA. MacQueen says, "We believe they changed the sampling locations in a week's time because they had been notified by the state."

Records show NUS moved one of their sample locations from the middle of the CTS site to the Rice's springs, all without asking for the Rice's permission or publicly reporting the test results. Dot Rice has serious concerns saying, "It was just unbelievable it could happen to us." Residents also wonder if they'd be healthier today if the EPA had simply warned them about the contamination back in 1990. Becky Robinson feels, "That could have saved us from drinking the water an additional nine years. It could have saved my grandchildren from being affected by it at all."

Throughout the years, the EPA has spent millions of tax dollars testing at the CTS site.  MacQueen has the exact amount memorized, "Eight million 573-thousand 115 dollars and 97 cents."  Meanwhile, officials won't disclose how much CTS has spent.  We asked Urquhart-Foster why the EPA hasn't removed the contaminated soil at the site and she said, "We feel like the contamination has migrated down to the groundwater level so just excavating soil at this point isn't necessarily the best solution."

At this point, the EPA has no solution for treating the contaminated groundwater.  In 2006, CTS did use a soil vapor extraction system, also known as 'SVE', to remove six thousand pounds of chemicals, including TCE, from the soil.  But state officials questioned how successful it was and, in 2010, it was cancelled. For years, residents and lawmakers have demanded an immediate removal of the soil at the CTS site. They want to know why the EPA won't do that if it would eliminate toxins in the ground. We then pressed Urquhart-Foster about this once again and she replied, "Well soil, soil, soil remediation itself is...that's what the soil vapor extraction system was meant to do. It's one of many different treatment technologies versus excavating." 

To this day, neither the EPA nor CTS has removed the contaminated soil from the site.  We still wanted to know why, but after reaching out to CTS officials and their attorneys numerous times, we got no response.  Professor Jeff Wilcox believes, "To me it's in CTS's best interest to just clean up the site, forget about EPA for a moment, I don't know why CTS doesn't just clean up the site."

Even though EPA officials have listed CTS as a potentially responsible party, residents assumed the EPA didn't have enough evidence to force the company to clean things up...or did they? CTS has always denied doing anything wrong.  In 2002, a CTS attorney responded to the EPA's concerns in a letter stating: "CTS has no knowledge of any such spill, leak, release or discharge of hazardous substances."  CTS further stated: "The plant was maintained in good condition." Despite this, we uncovered documents that seem to contradict that.

In 1987, CTS was in the process of selling forty five acres of the land to the developer, Mills Gap Road Associates. Mills Gap wanted to gauge the extent of contamination so CTS then hired the company, Law Environmental, to conduct the testing. When that testing was complete, a report was issued to CTS. Inspectors had found elevated levels of toxic chemicals, including TCE, in the soil under the plating room. 

They reported: "The suspected source of the volatile constituent contamination is from spills or leaks." In the plating room inspectors also noted: "There is an area where acid spilled from the tank and emptied into the drainage spillway. The concrete has been dissolved in this area exposing the underlying soil."  The company recommended further testing to determine if groundwater contamination was a risk.

We uncovered another document that makes similar claims. In 2003, a letter was sent to the EPA from a company called "TRW" which sold the building to CTS in 1959. TRW says when they operated the plant; they used acid brick on the floor trenches to keep chemicals from eroding into the ground. TRW claims, "It is reasonable to conclude that the sections of trench that were installed using cement, not acid brick, were part of later modifications by CTS and....the concrete trenches eroded, exposing bare soil, allowing liquids to discharge directly to the soil and into the underlying groundwater."

MacQueen says, "That is super important because CTS has had a history of claiming that the site was clean." We wanted to know what CTS and the EPA had to say about these documents but they refuse to comment.

EPA officials are being investigated for possible criminal actions for the way they handled the CTS site.  Franklin Hill is EPA's Region 4 Director of Superfund sites.  On August 21^st of this year, Hill and other top EPA officials drove from their headquarters in Atlanta to Congressman Mark Meadow’s office in Hendersonville. They wanted to meet with Dot Rice to talk about further testing on her property and she saw this as a chance to finally get some answers. Dot tells us, "We kept trying to find out why the EPA had known the water was contaminated and didn't tell us and they had no answer for us." 

Dot brought along an MP3 player to record the conversation. Dot told officials she would consider their proposals but only if they would first admit to the testing done at her springs back in 1990.

This is a section of that recording:  

Dot Rice: "I think that someone needs to say, ‘You know, I'm sorry, we came on your property in 1990 and made tests.’ Mr. Hill, I know you know they came on our property in 1990 and made the test and it was 1100 parts (per billion) for DCE and no one told me, why?”

Franklin Hill: "As far as an apology, I have no problem with apologizing for that fact, that we did not notify you of what we found in the spring."

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When the meeting was over we were outside Meadows’ office and had our own questions for
Franklin Hill. Mike Mason asked Hill, "I heard that you admitted that you tested on the Rice property in 1990?”  
Hill replied, "I think the file indicates that there was a sample that was taken on the Rice's property." Mason asked, "And it was contaminated?"
Hill answered, "Yes."
We then asked why the Rice's were never told about it.
Hill responded, "We had a field contractor, in the field. He was in the field taking samples, unaware of where he was and took a sample in the stream. I don't think there was any negligent, any negligence on his part." 
Mason then pressed Hill, "Nobody told them about the testing in 1990?”
At that point, Urquhart-Foster interrupted saying, "We're going to have to go, I'm sorry."
Mason continued questioning Hill, "You can't answer that question? I mean isn't that negligent? That's a toxic chemical, sir."
As Hill entered his vehicle he responded, "Mike, what I'll say to you is there's been no negligence on anyone's part here in Buncombe County."
Mason tried to clarify asking, "On you part?" Hill then said, "Have a good day" as he closed the door and drove away.
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We never got a chance to ask Hill other questions we had such as, why were pages missing from the EPA's version of the 1990 inspection report?  The state's copy clearly referenced a set of Field Logbook Notes. Field inspectors take these notes to detail their testing, hour by hour, and those notes could possibly explain why NUS moved the test to the Rice property.  MacQueen says, "We believe they may have evidence that shows they made a conscious decision to go onto the Rice property."

For years, residents and lawmakers have requested the logbooks but the EPA claims they're missing. When News 13 requested the logbooks in August, the EPA sent us a letter stating those records "Did exist" at one time but both NUS and the EPA's copies must have "Been misfiled or no longer exist."

The EPA did, however, produce the field logbook notes from testing they did in 1999. The EPA hired NUS again, by this time the company had changed its name to "Tetra Tech" and the EPA was now referring to CTS as the Mills Gap Site. The EPA's contractor maps from 1990 and 1999 both show the spot where inspectors tested on the Rice's property and both maps indicate there's a ‘pipe’ or ‘culvert’ leading from the CTS site to the area next to the Rice's springs. In the 1999 field logbook inspectors referred to this pipe as a “Drainage system for CTS.”

Dot Rice has read the notes and says, "That was stated on their work sheet, that that's where it was, that drained onto our property." In that logbook inspectors wrote: "They collected the (Rice's) sediment sample at the drainage pipe outfall which drains the Mills Gap site property and the flow continues onto the Rice residence property as an unnamed stream….there is an oily sheen on the surface water with a slight odor." When NUS found DCE in the Rice's stream back in 1990, they reported it: "May be attributed to waste handling practices at CTS".

One of the most important documents in all of this may be this Emergency Action Memorandum from 2002. That's when EPA officials determined the contamination at CTS posed a threat to public health requiring "immediate action" and the memo authorized the government to pay for the cleanup. Professor Wilcox says, "They could do it right now, they could go in right now and do that." The memo states, "The situation at the site will worsen if a removal action is delayed or not taken. The presence of contaminated soil beneath the building at the site poses a threat to the nearby population and environment....unless removal actions are initiated and completed, the contaminants...will continue to be a source of groundwater and surface water contamination." 

The EPA called for six months of testing and then the soil at CTS would be treated or removed.  That was eleven years ago and folks like Becky Robinson are disappointed, "They promised they would clean it up and they haven't." Dot Rice also reiterates, "I would like to see a complete cleanup."

The EPA knew if they failed to take immediate action there would be consequences. Their memo states, "Based on the extremely high levels of TCE in the Rice's spring, it is not unreasonable to expect the TCE levels in the well water to increase over time," and they did. In 2007, Dot Rice paid a private company to test her springs and found TCE had risen to 293,000 parts per billion. That's over ninety seven thousand times the state limit and still, no clean up.

Barry Durand doesn’t understand why, "I was really curious as to why it wasn't being done and all this time had gone by." But EPA officials tell us they did comply with the action memo by installing that fence around the Rice's spring in 2007. Urquhart-Foster claims, "The springs that are most contaminated are fenced off to prevent human exposure, so any immediate threats of exposure have been addressed under the removal program."

Explanations like these only angered residents more. They had grown tired of waiting and demanded action. In October of 2007, EPA officials came to Asheville and began holding public meetings to talk with residents about the CTS site.  They thought it would help diffuse the tension but now, some thirty meetings later; many residents are more upset and less trusting of the EPA. Dot Rice says, "It's hard to find any faith at all that anything will ever be done."

In 2012, the Administrative Record for CTS finally re-appeared at the Pack Library five years after it went missing.  The EPA replaced the binder with CD's but, again, MacQueen noticed a problem with one of the reports, "It was incomplete, it was missing over 160 pages."

For decades, state and federal officials have tested for toxic chemicals in and around the CTS site. In July, we went out to the Rice property to test their springs for ourselves in the same area the EPA had tested back in 1990 and 1999. Professor Jeff Wilcox and one of his students came with us to make sure we followed the same protocol used by the EPA.

Wilcox has tracked the contamination for years. He has also worked with the EPA in the past and now incorporates the Rice's contaminated property into his teaching curriculum at UNC Asheville. Wilcox says, "Starting last summer we started collecting samples from inside the spring area and we've had samples ranging from 14,800 parts per billion." That means the level of TCE was nearly five thousand times the state limit of three parts per billion in water. 

The last time Wilcox tested the Rice's spring was back in January.  This time he took a sample from the head of their spring, about sixty feet from the CTS site and reporter Mike Mason took another about fifty feet further downstream.   

Back at the lab, Wilcox used the EPA's approved method of testing and within thirty minutes he had the results. Wilcox told us, "The first sample you collected was 735 parts per billion." That's 245 times the state's regulated limit. But Wilcox says the sample he took at the head of the spring was much higher, "At the spring it's 55-hundred parts per billion." That's more than eighteen hundred times the state limit, and we took these water samples twenty seven years after CTS shut down operations. 

We also wondered if toxic vapors could be detected in the air. In 2008, the EPA's air testing showed high amounts of TCE around the Rice property; sixteen times the state's acceptable level. In 2009, NCDENR official, James Bateson, spoke about the issue of toxic vapors around the CTS site during a Buncombe County Commission meeting.  Bateson reported, "We strategized a lot to catch a whiff up there but it's difficult." But EPA officials were still concerned about the vapor levels.  They issued a memo in 2010 after their experts reviewed the 2008 test results. They determined the levels of TCE vapors in the air showed a need for "Future monitoring if the source is not removed" or addressed. Wilcox says, "There's been no source removal or mitigation since that memo came out."

Each time we went to the Rice property we could easily detect a heavy odor of chemicals so we decided to conduct our own air test. News 13 purchased the same test kit used by the EPA.  Professor Wilcox installed the canister along the Rice's fence line in the same location the EPA had tested back in 2008.

Within a week our results were in and the level of TCE vapors was more than twice the amount the EPA had reported in 2008, in the same location.

According to our test, the TCE in the air had risen to a level thirty nine times higher than the state's acceptable limit. Wilcox states, "What the second test showed is that there is variability in the concentrations. We've been asking for years for the EPA, or NCDENR, or whomever to do additional air testing. All of the recommended protocols suggest when you're above the screening level that you do additional testing."

When we told EPA officials about our test results, they were eager to get a copy so we sent them one. They then sent us an email stating the higher levels of TCE could be related to higher rainfall this year. The email states in part: "Rain refills the aquifer which raises the level of the ground water table. A rise in the ground water table could result in more TCE and other chemicals flowing out of the ground and into the springs on the (Rice) property….TCE and other volatile chemicals evaporate from the springs and are transported into the nearby air." EPA officials claim our testing reinforces their commitment to complete vapor intrusion studies for homes located near the Rice's springs.

In Wilcox's research, he has also studied TCE levels in the trees growing along the Rice property. Dot Rice recalls, "We've lost probably twenty trees around the spring area that have just died."

By taking core samples from trees, Wilcox has been able to map out how far, and in what direction, TCE has been spreading through the years in the soil and water.

Back in 1990, NUS testing showed TCE had already begun migrating away from the CTS site. TCE continues to flow in the Rice's spring at high levels. Their spring is connected to Robinson Creek which eventually joins Cane Creek; the water then empties out in to the French Broad River. The EPA report from 1991 stated, "The French Broad could be affected by the contamination at CTS."  But EPA officials didn't take action to prevent it. 

Now, twenty two years later, the EPA is still in the testing phase and admits it will be quite a while before there's any real cleanup at the old CTS site. Urquhart-Foster admits, "It will be several years, the remedial investigation phase process takes a couple of years to get through and this is a complex site, we've got fractured bedrock, it's pretty complicated."

The EPA knew how complicated it was more than a decade ago.  In 2001, they hired Lockheed Martin to drill boring holes under the CTS plant. When they got down thirty four feet, they reported finding TCE in the soil at the highest level recorded yet:  830,000 parts per billion.

In 2000, the EPA had reported the "Water table was approximately fifty feet below the ground," so at that time, officials knew TCE was seeping further down into the soil.  In 2001 it had reached a depth of thirty four feet and only had sixteen feet left to go before TCE would enter the groundwater. The Lockheed study not only confirmed TCE still "Remained in the soil and shallow bedrock" but it also warned EPA officials that: "Contaminants would move away from the site once they reached the water table." Now, twelve years after that ominous warning, EPA officials confirm TCE has entered the groundwater. Wilcox states, "It's going to travel with the groundwater until the source is removed." But despite what scientists say, EPA officials have no plans to remove the soil at the CTS site. Urquhart-Foster tells us, "We feel like the contamination has migrated down to the groundwater level so just excavating soil at this point isn't necessarily the best solution."

Nearby residents feel helpless.  If the EPA won't help then who will? We went straight to lawmakers to see how they felt about the way EPA officials are handling the CTS site. When we met with Congressman Mark Meadows and showed him our documents he told us, "Based on the evidence that I've seen today, it is very troubling."

The contamination from the CTS site greatly concerns many families living nearby. On July 8th, News 13 hosted a Town Hall meeting at the Skyland Fire Department. All those concerned with the contamination at the CTS site were invited to attend. 

More than one hundred people packed the room. Reporter Mike Mason asked the crowd, "Can you raise your hands if you think that you may have been affected by any contamination regarding CTS? Just keep them up for a second. Okay, that's quite a few people. Has anybody here had a relative they think died because of being exposed to contamination regarding TCE?" About fifteen people raised their hands.

Although the Rice and Robinsons were the first families notified about the contamination in 1999, many more have since been affected. Some who weren't notified are now concerned their water was also contaminated. 

In the past year, CTS has paid to install water filtration systems at ninety six homes, all located within one mile of the site.  Buncombe County has connected dozens of other homes to city water lines but there are more than a hundred additional families still waiting to be connected and county taxpayers will end up footing the bill.

Some residents are furious with how officials have handled the whole situation. During the Town Hall meeting, one man asked, "Where are the politicians? This is a huge community with ramifications not only here but the French Broad River. They're not here; if they gave a rat's butt they'd be here! "

Some who have been living close to CTS are simply disgusted they still don't have access to clean water. Lori Murphy is one of them, "When are they putting the municipal water lines in? It's been almost a year now since they promised us municipal water." Others who recently moved to the area are in disbelief. One man stated, "I moved here less than a year ago and this is the first I'm hearing of this CTS issue, I'm grossly sick right now hearing about this, all the human beings who were affected." 

Another woman in the crowd announced, "These are families that have scars for life. People that have died!"  One concerned parent says she grew up in another country and pleaded, "This is America, that's why I came to live here. Where is the justice?" Overall, residents are hoping for one thing and local activist, Judy Selz, summed it up, "We want the chemicals out more than anything else and the site cleaned up."

According to U.S. Congressman Mark Meadows, that's a top priority.  Meadows told us he questions how EPA officials handled the CTS site, especially when it comes to the Rice family. Meadows told us, "The fact that they did tests and knew there was contamination and nobody told them. That's troubling." Meadows also reacted to new documents we uncovered saying, "The information that I've seen today is very troubling and would indicate there were certainly improprieties in the way it was done."

One of those "improprieties" may include a report the EPA sent to News 13. We found it in those CD's, a copy of the EPA's inspection of CTS from 1990. You may remember how the EPA's version always had some pages missing.  For the first time, the report "appeared" to be complete, with all 196 pages accounted for. But, after careful review, we found the pages were all "hand numbered".  In fact, there were more than twenty "duplicate" pages inserted. MacQueen says, "It gives the appearance of being 196 pages."

We found the EPA did not give us the full report and the critical documents that had always been missing still were, including test results from the 1990 inspection. The EPA refuses to explain how this happened, saying it's all part of the criminal investigation. MacQueen feels, "There is a story here that they don't want uncovered; your discs that WLOS acquired from your FOIA."

Remember the Administrative Record that ‘disappeared’ from the Pack Library in 2007? Federal Law requires the EPA to make that record public so residents will know about the contamination and how it will be cleaned up. Since 1999, the EPA knew TCE was contaminating wells and, at that time. Federal Law required the EPA to make the record public; but they didn't until 2007.

News 13 questioned why EPA officials waited eight long years before releasing it. They then sent us an email, and, for the first time admitted, "The Administrative Record should have been released for public view in October, 1999." Congressman Meadows reacted saying he has concerns about, "The potential for cover-up, the potential for evidence that wasn't shared."

The EPA's Administrative Record could have provided key evidence the Rice’s and Robinsons needed while negotiating with CTS. Instead, they agreed to settle in 2005. It’s something they say they wouldn't have done if they had known those records would show up in the library two years later.

MacQueen feels there's enough evidence in those 3 CD's alone to support criminal charges against EPA officials saying, "All of the timeline now is clear of what they did versus what they should have done. What they did when they realized what they should have done, all of these things are documented with the documents that you got."

Four days after our Town Hall meeting, the EPA sent a certified letter to News 13 stating they had, "Inadvertently released sensitive information" to us. The EPA now claims those 3 CD's, which hold nearly 63,000 documents, "Contain personally identifiable information" along with "Confidential business information" which should be "Returned" to the EPA. They also requested we "Destroy any copies we had made." MacQueen says, "I know why they want it back, because the documents that you have serve as indictments for their behavior. I believe they are scared to the point of paralysis now."

Congressman Mark Meadows also demands to know what, if anything, EPA officials have to hide saying, "If it is a cover-up we have to make sure that not only we hold them accountable but that we send people to jail." Meadows says he now plans to request Congressional hearings, hoping that will force EPA officials to explain how a Superfund site turned in to a landslide of controversy. Meadows states, "It is very, very concerning that we would have this because what we've got is an agency that didn't do their job."

In 2011, North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services conducted a health assessment of people potentially affected by the contamination at the CTS site. Within a one mile radius of CTS they found forty nine cases of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and ten people with liver or renal cancer. That may sound alarming but officials determined this number was normal, considering the overall population. 

Katie Hicks is Assistant Director of the non-profit organization, "Clean Water for North Carolina". It's an environmental justice group that lobbies for safe water and public health issues. Hicks criticized the study saying, "They have a very limited scope."  After reviewing the state's health assessment, Hicks found the study to be incomplete and misleading. For example, officials didn't speak directly with former CTS workers or local residents.

In the study, the state only reviewed patient records at medical facilities between 1990 and 2005. Anyone who had moved out of the area was excluded. Hicks says, "You have people who have been drinking from wells in the South Asheville community who, just because they weren't contacted for the study or didn’t know it was going on, it's assumed that, 'well people probably didn't come in to contact with it so, therefore, there's not an exposure pathway’."

The public health division addressed some concerns they received and put them in the appendix of the report. They admit they had limited data to work with.

This past July, the state issued a follow-up assessment with similar results. Hicks also questions several conclusions in that report as well, including one stating that the chain link fence around the Rice's springs will protect the public from exposure to TCE. Hicks responded to this saying, "To claim that the public health threat is minimized by just putting up a fence is short-sighted and not helpful to the residents who are pushing for cleanup." The recent study didn't take into consideration the toxic vapors in the air. Hicks expressed concern, "Breathing these vapors is one of the public health threats that could be the most urgent."

In 2011, Dot Rice also did her own survey, going door to door, interviewing residents who lived within a quarter mile of the CTS site. She managed to compile a list of dozens of people who reported having serious illnesses. Dot Rice recalls, "We came up with sixty four cancers within a fourth of a mile area." Katie Hicks applauds Rice’s efforts saying, "These cancer registries that they are drawing the data from, this is exactly the kind of real, on the ground data that they're not picking up on."

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At the end of the day, this story is about ordinary people brought together by one common belief; that toxic chemicals have changed their lives forever. Mary Sue McGraw worked at CTS and feels, "I lost years off my life and had major problems ever since." Many are angered they had been drinking contaminated water for so long.

Dot Rice fights backs tears whenever she thinks about it, "Our whole lives have been destroyed.” Each person affected by this has their own story. With so much time passing by before anyone knew their drinking water was contaminated, many wonder what if?  What if CTS and the EPA had simply cleaned things up? 

Former CTS General Manager Charles Beitner is sympathetic but asks, "How can you undo something? You can't. You wish you could but you can't." What if the EPA had told people their water was contaminated the very minute they got those test results?  And for those already diagnosed with cancer, what can be done for them? Oncologist Shonda Asaad sighs when asked that question and admits, “That's a difficult subject. I really don't know of specific treatment for the TCE exposure."

Other residents wonder if they'll be affected later in life. Is it just a matter of time?  That constant worrying, will I be next? Dot Rice has struggled with this for years and worries, "I lay awake at night and think, where is it all going to end? We're just hoping that maybe with your story, that maybe you can reach somebody that feels for us and will see that somebody does something to get a cleanup."

Last year, the EPA's Inspector General launched an investigation into allegations of fraud and other criminal acts involving the way EPA officials handled the CTS site.  Many feel Congressional hearings will compel officials to testify and it's the only way we'll know the whole story about what happened.

We reached out to Congressmen Patrick McHenry and, as you saw, Mark Meadows as well. Both support the criminal investigation into how the EPA handled the CTS site. Meadows told us he also wants EPA officials to face an Oversight Committee and Congressional hearings. Senator Kay Hagan says she'll do whatever she can to protect the health of residents living near CTS but she denied our request for an interview. Senator Richard Burr did not respond to our calls or emails. State Representative Tim Moffitt has requested complete removal of the soil at the CTS site and says he’s already coordinated a company to replace it with new soil but the EPA doesn’t want to do that.

We tried contacting CTS officials, and their attorneys, numerous times but they have not responded.

The following is a link to “Buried Secrets": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjomrt6gt6g

Stalker

When hearing stories about people being 'stalked', I'd often picture a woman walking down a dark alley with a man following closely behind in the shadows. I never thought I would be the one looking over my shoulder, or I'd really feel threatened by a cyber stalker.
I guess I also never thought much about any dangers associated with being a television personality either. To me, it was just like any other profession; at the end of the day I would leave the station and go about my business. But recently I was reminded of just how 'special' people on television can seem to some; how a small faction of fans will follow 'local celebrities'....literally. They're not the paparazzi, they're the chosen few we let in to our inner circles who eventually become our close friends.

I've heard how some have made it their mission to appear to be our new BFF's online. Then there are those who subtly seduce us over time by slipping into our hearts so they can, one day, be granted full access to our private lives. Problem is, they don't always have the best intentions; these people can be the most dangerous. 

For me, this is not a comfortable topic. For one thing, I think it's egotistical to suggest someone wants to be a friend just because a person is on television. It's the last thing I would want to believe, even when my longtime friends have told me it's painfully obvious. I don't want to jump to conclusions and falsely convict someone of using me, that would be arrogant and presumptive. I hope for the best and don't want to assume anything. I also have a hard time zeroing in on suspicious activity when it's happening close to my heart.

Without going in to great detail, I will say that I've had a couple of traditional 'stalkers' through the years but nothing too serious. One of the more significant incidents involved someone close to me who essentially tried to 'steal my life' after I chose to move far away from that person. I had just accepted a new job in a new city. After settling in, my 'friend' began hacking into my social media sites and posting bizarre and embarrassing messages. This person had somehow retrieved my passwords from my computer before I had moved. More disturbing, this person later sent me emails stating they had acquired my medical records and other sensitive personal information - for what reason, I still don't know.

To make matters worse, this person soon contacted my new employer to discredit me, saying I was unreliable and couldn't be trusted. (Not exactly something you want your new boss to bothered with.) I endured about a month of harassing emails and calls. The final straw was when I found out this person had previously stolen several of my checks and later cashed them. I then took legal action. After a quick arrest and a restraining order things finally quieted down.

Turns out this person was just bitter that I had moved away and moved on with my life. Friends did later tell me how this person often 'bragged' to others about the fact I was on television, it seemed to them this had been an unhealthy obsession from the beginning. I wasn't aware of it. I guess you live and you learn. I don't want to be jaded by this, or any prior incident, and am generally quite trusting of others. If I find myself walking down a dark alley I may, however, look over my shoulder from now on.

Atlanta Police Chief's son suspended for crash - 2 years after reporter raises questions

More than two years after officer rear-ends car, Chief's son receives a two day suspension.

Atlanta police officer Tim Turner has been reprimanded for causing a car accident more than two years ago.

The investigation into officer Turner's 2013 accident was opened this past July, prompted by a reporter's request to review his disciplinary history report. At the time, Turner's history report didn't include the accident he had caused in Cobb County and, as a result, Turner was never reprimanded for the incident.

During the past couple of years, officers with the Atlanta Police Department have rumbled about the accident and suspected Turner was given special treatment, especially since his father is George Turner; Atlanta's Chief of Police. 

Documents obtained from Atlanta police officers, who asked to remain anonymous, show 32 year old Timothy Turner crashed his assigned police cars on two separate occasions back in 2013, both within a 30 day period.

According to official records, the Cobb County accident was never investigated by Internal Affairs, also called the Office of Professional Standards (OPS), until this past July. Failure to investigate an officer-involved accident is in direct violation of the department's own policy. Department officials admit they've never heard of any other officer involved accidents that were not promptly investigated.

Union representatives with the International Brotherhood of Police Officers (IBPO) boldly called Turner’s accident a police ‘cover-up’. Vince Champion is IBPO’s Regional Director and says, “This should have been investigated, especially since the Chief’s son is the one involved.” Champion says a number of Atlanta police officers have complained to union officials about officer Tim Turner and the rumors they’ve heard about the Cobb County car accident that wasn’t investigated. Champion says most every officer has heard rumblings about the incident and would like to know the truth about what really happened. Champion explains, “It’s bad for morale, if officer Turner wasn’t investigated then that’s a violation of the department’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and it’s not fair to the other officers who do get investigated for these same violations.”

The department's investigation may raise more questions than it answers. For instance, in the memo below Turner's supervisor Sergeant K. Lambert states he doesn't remember being told to submit an accident package for the crash, which officers say is standard operating procedure and must be done whether Lambert was asked to or not.

According to newly released documents (below), during the internal investigation Turner also made a contradictory statement, saying his supervisor didn't respond to the accident scene, even though his initial report stated his Lieutenant, Terry Joyner, did arrive after the other driver had already left the scene.

WHAT HAPPENED?

A Georgia Department of Public Safety (DPS) report shows a state trooper responded to Turner’s accident at 3:52pm on September 11, 2013 in Cobb County. The report shows the wreck occurred on Barrett Parkway as Turner and another driver were attempting to merge onto I-75 Northbound. The DPS report states Turner was unable to stop his assigned 2004 Crown Victoria and struck the rear of the Toyota Venza in front of him. The trooper's dashcam video shows Turner admitting to the trooper he likely caused the crash. (still image of video below)




At about thirteen minutes into the dashcam video, officer Tim Turner is seen approaching the trooper in his cruiser and the dashcam's audio recorded Turner stating, “I should’ve been paying attention. I wasn’t paying as much attention as I should’ve been...I have no excuse, it’s still my fault, I know.”


In Major Adam Lee's Notice of Final Adverse Action (above) it states, "Employee excepts (sp) responsibility." As a result, Turner was found in violation of the city's rule governing the "Operation of a City Vehicle" and he was given a two day suspension. The fact Turner's accident was apparently not reported to the Atlanta Police Department and the incident wasn't investigated for two years is never mentioned in the internal affairs report.

 Turner’s Accident before the Cobb Crash

According to city policy, officer Tim Turner would have likely faced serious discipline for crashing his assigned police car just three weeks after he totaled another city vehicle. Champion says, “Turner would’ve been subject to Progressive Discipline, according to department policy.”

Turner’s first accident in 2013 happened early Sunday morning at 8am on August 18th. According to Turner's own report of the incident, he was driving his police car Southbound on the I-75-85 expressway in Atlanta. As he approached a curve near the Williams Street exit he says his car began to fish tale. He then lost control and slammed into a median wall. (car below)


According to APD’s SOP 3152, officers responsible for causing a 'major collision' are required to be given a one day suspension. Major collisions are defined as those requiring repairs between five and fifteen thousand dollars, the repair estimate for Turner's accident was more than six thousand dollars.
The APD’s command staff and Turner's supervisor, Lt. Joyner, all agreed the discipline in accordance with SOP was appropriate, however, Deputy Chief S.L. Jones did not. In a memo copied to officer’s Turner’s personnel file, Deputy Chief Jones wrote,

“The employee alleges as a contributing factor, that the rear tires needed to be changed. The employee says that the vehicle was taken to the shop for Preventive Maintenance service, and only the front tires were changed. The investigative file does not capture any information related to that line of inquiry.”  -  Deputy Chief S.L. Jones

As a result, Turner's discipline was reduced to a written reprimand. Champion says Deputy Chief Jones didn’t verify Turner’s claims or inspect the vehicle. Champion is a veteran police officer who also worked as a traffic homicide investigator during his law enforcement career. He reviewed photos showing the rear tires in question. “They just took Turner’s word and didn’t even investigate. That’s not the way they treat other officers and it looks like they did him a big favor.”

Tim Turner has not responded to emailed questions about the accident. The APD’s Director of Public Affairs, Elizabeth Espy, also failed to respond to specific questions about why the department didn't investigate the crash for two years. Chief George Turner has also refused to comment.

Union: Atlanta Police Chief’s Son got ‘Special Treatment’ - Officers call it a Double Standard

Officer Tim Turner’s ‘at fault’ police car accident  

not investigated for 2 years  

An investigation into the Atlanta Police Department has some questioning whether the Chief's son, also an APD officer, received special treatment after being involved in an 'at fault' accident involving his police car. Documents obtained from Atlanta police officers - who asked to remain anonymous - show 32 year old Timothy (Tim) Turner (below), the son of police Chief George Turner, crashed his assigned police car twice within 30 days. However, one of those accidents was not investigated by Internal Affairs - also called the Office of Professional Standards (OPS) - until recently. It has been nearly two years since the incident and failing to investigate it is in violation of department policy.

According to Turner’s OPS Officer Disciplinary History Report, he has been involved in seven OPS investigations and two separate 'at fault' vehicle accidents while driving his assigned police car since joining the APD in 2007. One accident happened in Cobb County on September 11, 2013 and was not included  in Turner’s OPS or personnel files. When first requesting the APD’s copy of the accident report, the police department’s public affairs department maintained it simply didn’t exist. APD’s Director of Public Affairs, Elizabeth Espy, explained, “We don’t do reports on accidents outside of our jurisdiction.” Atlanta is in Fulton County, adjacent to Cobb County. Regardless, department policy requires each officer-involved accident to be investigated by the APD and, in doing so, the APD must obtain the accident report from the investigating authority.

Shortly after an officer anonymously provided a copy of the Cobb accident, Espy was given that info and finally offered up an APD offense report with a brief narrative detailing the accident. It shows officer Turner himself wrote and reviewed the report and APD Officer K. L. Lambert approved it on October 17th, 2013. In the narrative, officer Lambert wrote: “Georgia State Patrol responded to the scene and did the accident report…the second vehicle had minimum damage to the rear bumper…and the second driver drove away before Lieutenant (Terry) Joyner could respond to the scene. Atlanta Identification Unit took pictures of the damage to the city vehicle.” The trooper cited Turner, issuing a written warning for following the car in front of him too closely.

 So how did Turner’s accident report and the required investigation remain mysteriously missing from the APD's records for the past two years? APD officers wanted to know and have quietly questioned whether the department even conducted an investigation. According to union officials, “That’s something we’d like the Chief to explain.” Union representatives with the International Brotherhood of Police Officers (IBPO) are calling Turner’s accident a ‘cover-up’. Vince Champion is IBPO’s Regional Director and says, “This should have been investigated, especially since the Chief’s son is the one involved.” Champion says a number of Atlanta police officers have complained to union officials about officer Tim Turner and the rumors they’ve heard about the Cobb County car accident that wasn’t investigated. Champion says most every officer has heard rumblings about the incident and would like to know the truth about what really happened. Champion explains, “It’s bad for morale, if officer Turner wasn’t investigated then that’s a violation of the department’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and it’s not fair to the other officers who do get investigated for these same violations.”

As for any perceived interference with this case due to the fact Tim Turner’s father is Chief George Turner, Champion admits he has no proof but adds, “It looks bad for the Chief, if anything you’d think he’d want to make sure his son was held to the highest standard so no one would suspect he was getting special treatment.” Chief Turner has refused several requests to comment on this case.      

“It looks bad for the Chief, if anything you’d think he’d want to make sure his son was held to the highest standard so no one would suspect he was getting special treatment.” - Vince Champion, Regional Director I.B.P.O.

                                                                                   

         Disgruntled Officers

 

 Earlier this year, two APD Sergeants spoke about their view of the police department. They had plenty to say about a number of topics they felt needed to be investigated. Both Sergeants were most curious about a mysterious crash involving the Chief’s son, officer Tim Turner. Word had it that Turner was driving his assigned police car, crashed it and was never reprimanded or investigated, although he had been found at fault. If true, officers felt it was unfair, since it's a clear violation of department policy.

We then requested documents surrounding the accident from the APD’s public affairs department. A month later, officials conceded they had no information about Turner’s accident. At that point, APD officers came forward anonymously providing photos and copies of the full accident reports, hoping that information would help expose the truth.

The Mysterious Accident

                   
A Georgia Department of Public Safety (DPS) report (above) shows a state trooper responded to Turner’s accident at 3:52pm on September 11, 2013 in Cobb County. The report shows the wreck occurred on Barrett Parkway as Turner and another driver were attempting to merge onto I-75 Northbound. The DPS report states Turner was unable to stop his assigned 2004 Crown Victoria and struck the rear of the Toyota Venza in front of him. The trooper's dashcam video shows Turner telling the trooper he may have caused the crash.

Still frame from trooper's dashcam video

 “I should’ve been paying attention. I wasn’t paying as much attention as I should’ve been...I have no excuse, it’s still my fault, I know.”  - APD Officer Tim Turner

At about thirteen minutes into the dashcam video, officer Tim Turner is seen approaching the trooper in his cruiser and the dashcam's audio recorded Turner admitting, “I should’ve been paying attention. I wasn’t paying as much attention as I should’ve been...I have no excuse, it’s still my fault, I know.”
The officer issued Turner a warning for following the car in front of him too closely. The other driver, Acworth resident Jerusha Mumbi, was able to drive away from the scene. She can be heard on the dashcam video asking the trooper what to do if she discovers accident related injuries in the future. The trooper advises her to get a full medical exam as soon as possible.

Chief’s Son not Investigated

 After requesting information about the Cobb County accident this past June via Georgia's Open Records Act, the APD's public information department claimed those records didn't exist. When officers quietly provided the reports three weeks later, the APD's public affairs department finally located a brief narrative detailing the Cobb accident. Despite required policy, the department maintains a police investigation was never conducted but can't explain why. APD's Standard Operating Procedure #3152 requires an OPS package be 'initiated on all motor vehicle collisions involving APD vehicles to determine employee culpability and to promote consistency of discipline' (below).

APD SOP .3152

This revised policy, signed by Chief George Turner on December 1st 2011, requires section commanders to submit the 'at-fault accident package' to OPS within 14 days and after it's completed it must also be sent to the Chief and the APD's Accreditation Unit.

 Turner’s Accident before the Cobb Crash

Officer Tim Turner would have likely faced serious discipline for crashing his assigned police car just three weeks after he totaled another city vehicle. Champion says, “Turner would’ve been subject to Progressive Discipline, according to department policy.”

Turner’s first accident in 2013 happened early Sunday morning at 8am on August 18th. According to Turner's own report of the incident, he was driving his police car Southbound on the I-75-85 expressway in Atlanta. As he approached a curve near the Williams Street exit he says his car began to fish tale. He then lost control and slammed into a median wall. (Car below)
           
We requested that police report and any photos from the APD's public information department. They submitted a typed Uniform Motor Vehicle Accident Report which stated no photos had been taken to document the crash (below).

Accident Report

As a result, Atlanta police officers anonymously provided the full accident report which included several additional pages. It shows the reporting APD officer, Jovon Edwards, wrote, “I notified ID and tech #7310 responded on scene shortly after.” The APD’s ‘ID techs’ are dispatched specifically to photograph accident scenes. A request for information about Turner's accident was then sent to APD’s public affairs department, along with a request for any related police photos. None were received.  It's unclear whether photos were ever included with Turner’s accident report, despite the fact they're required per APD policy and the accident report even states an ID tech arrived on the scene. “We suspected the APD would try to cover things up," says one APD officer. "That’s why we took photos and held onto them.” That officer has asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation.
The officers’ photos of Turner's assigned car, number 30213, show the extent of damage after the accident. An APD officer says he snapped the photos in July of 2014, nearly a year after the crash, while the car sat at the City's impound lot on Howell Mill Road.

Those photos indicate the most serious damage happened along the left side of Turner’s assigned 2008 Ford Crown Victoria. According to the APD's accident report, the responding officer noted the roads were wet and weather was a contributing factor, however, the investigator still found officer Turner ‘at fault’ which was noted in a memo written by Turner’s Lieutenant. The estimate for damages to the vehicle were estimated at $6,150.

APD SOP .3152

       
According to APD’s SOP 3152 (above), officers responsible for causing a 'major collision', one that requires repairs between five and fifteen thousand dollars, are to be given a one day suspension (see SOP above).  The APD’s command staff and Turner's supervisor, Lt. Joyner, all agreed discipline was appropriate.  Deputy Chief S.L. Jones did not.
                                                         
In a memo copied to officer’s Turner’s personnel file, Deputy Chief Jones (above) wrote, “The employee alleges as a contributing factor, that the rear tires needed to be changed. The employee says that the vehicle was taken to the shop for Preventive Maintenance service, and only the front tires were changed. The investigative file does not capture any information related to that line of inquiry.”

“The employee (Turner) alleges as a contributing factor, that the rear tires needed to be changed. The employee says that the vehicle was taken to the shop for Preventive Maintenance service, and only the front tires were changed. The investigative file does not capture any information related to that line of inquiry.”  - Deputy Chief S.L. Jones

As a result, Turner's discipline was reduced to a written reprimand. Champion questions why Deputy Chief Jones didn’t simply verify Turner’s claims and check out the vehicle. “They just took Turner’s word and didn’t even investigate. That’s not the way they treat other officers and it looks like they did him a big favor.” Champion is a veteran police officer who also worked as a traffic homicide investigator during his law enforcement career. He viewed the photos showing the rear tires in question. (Photos of rear tire below)           

Champion says, “You can clearly see the tread on the rear tires is a little worn but it’s not worn enough to cause the car to skid like that. It certainly doesn’t appear this would have caused the accident, as officer Turner alleges in his report.”

What Now?

For two months, Chief Turner and his public relations team have declined to comment on this case but, due to inquiries related to this report, the APD eventually launched an OPS investigation into the incident. Espy confirmed investigators were looking into Turner’s accident now that they had been made aware of it. She stated, “If it is discovered that (an OPS) package was not done on an accident, then once that is discovered, the package is then begun no matter the time that has passed.  So for example in the case you have, a package has been opened on it.” On September 4th Espy stated, “I believe the file is complete and you can file an open records request to have that information sent to you along with any associated costs.”

APD response to FOIA

The APD later sent the letter above stating the Turner incident is still under investigation. Atlanta police officers and union officials feel it's unsettling to know the department waited nearly two years before investigating officer Tim Turner's accident in Cobb County.


The APD’s own records show officer Turner, his Lieutenant, an ID Tech and the reporting officer were all aware of the accident and helped to generate a report detailing what had happened. It is not clear if they simply dropped the ball, chose not to report the accident to the APD’s Internal Affairs Unit or were told to keep things quiet. A number of police officers suspect the accident wasn’t investigated because someone intervened in an attempt to prevent the Chief’s son from facing serious discipline.

One thing is certain; the Cobb County accident was never listed on officer Tim Turner’s OPS disciplinary history report (below).

Tim Turner's Disciplinary History Report

Tim Turner's Disciplinary History Report

The public, attorneys and law enforcement officials all rely upon those reports to assess an officer’s past performance and behavior while on the force. IBPO officials believe the Cobb County accident could’ve seriously impacted Turner’s law enforcement career. The APD's public affairs department can’t explain how this high profile accident flew under their radar.

Questions recently submitted to Espy include the following:

• Why didn't Lt. Joyner or any other APD officer report the accident to OPS, or did they? 

• Did the Chief know about his son’s accident? Did he wonder why it wasn't investigated?\

• What message does this send to other officers?

• The IBPO says many officers have complained about this and it has hurt morale at the department. What, if anything, will be done to restore it?

• Did Tim Turner - or anyone else - receive any discipline as a result of the Cobb County crash?

• If so, was it Progressive Discipline? If not, why? Since Turner was found at fault for all three accidents, including one in 2010 and two in 2013, wouldn't the latest result in a reprimand per the Progressive Discipline Policy?

Elizabeth Espy was asked how many other police involved accidents have not been investigated, or were not investigated until much later. Espy admitted she didn’t know of any other incidents. One thing is clear; it wasn't difficult to track down proof that the police Chief’s son was involved in a crash one Sunday afternoon back in 2013 but, unfortunately, that case remains plagued by more questions than answers. One can only hope the APD will do the right thing and provide some of those answers. This report will be updated at that time.
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Disclaimer: Every document and research item conducted for this report was obtained via a public records request and/or directly acquired through Atlanta Police Officers. This report is not affiliated with any corporation or television station.

Mike Mason: Investigative Reporter     Copyright 2015

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