Mountaintrue

Programs: Clean water: our intensive bacteria monitoring program revealed numerous sewer leaks and straight pipes in buncombe and henderson counties that have been fixed. We were the first responder and lead advocate for cleanup of a major gasoline leak into the watauga river. We continue coal ash litigation at the duke energy rogers/cliffside plant in rutherford county, seeking excavation of the ash to stop ongoing surface and groundwater pollution. In 2017, we held a clean up your coal ash float, undertook fish tissue monitoring, and generated public comment on duke's draft wastewater discharge permit. We settled a challenge to a brownfield agreement, securing additional public disclosure of soil and groundwater contamination and protections in those areas of the site. Over 200 volunteers planted close to 10,000 live stakes along 12 miles of streambank on cane and hominy creeks to stop erosion.

clean energy and sustainability: mountaintrue co-chaired two of the working groups supporting the energy innovation task force, which is the nationally unique partnership among the city of asheville, buncombe county, and duke energy to delay or avoid construction of a proposed natural gas peaking plant at lake julian and to reduce energy use in the region overall. This work helped secure several hundred thousand dollars from the city and county for energy investments, including low income weathe

public lands: we continue to play a leading role in pisgah-nantahala national forest planning. We launched a save our ashes campaign to inventory existing ash trees that are susceptible to the emerald ash borer so they can be treated and monitored. We continue our invasive control work on public and private conservation lands. We held another bio blitz at bluff mountain in madison county, though which we identified several new species.