Editor’s note: Story updated 4:30 p.m. Aug. 13, 2026
Nearly two years after floodwaters from Tropical Storm Helene pulled thousands of PVC pipes into the French Broad River, creating an ongoing environmental crisis and safety hazard, the corporate owner of a riverside plastics manufacturer has emerged from a period of silence with promises to improve how it stores its goods.
At the same time, emails newly obtained by Asheville Watchdog confirm that a Buncombe County official warned the company of the risk — and attempted to impose measures that could have made the site more secure — more than two years before Helene…