Buncombe County neighbors file complaint with EPA over Duke Energy chemical concerns

By Hannah Mackenzie

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    ARDEN, North Carolina (WLOS) — Several residents in one Buncombe County neighborhood have filed complaints with the Environmental Protection Agency after they said Duke Energy sprayed harmful chemicals near their homes. According to one neighbor, the EPA’s report has not been finalized.

D.C. Whitenack said about five weeks ago he and his neighbors spotted close to one dozen Duke Energy employees spraying chemicals near their Arden neighborhood.

Whitenack, whose fence borders one of the targeted easements, said it is not abnormal for the company to maintain the area, but it is the first time in nine years that they have used chemicals to do so.

“They were spraying herbicide over their heads, and it blew into [our] yard,” Whitenack said. “Had we known, we could at least have had our dogs in.”

One of Whitenack’s neighbors, who did not want to go on camera, snapped a photo of the products used being used by the workers. Some of the chemicals include imazapyr, glyphosate and triclopyr.

According to the safety data sheets and specimen labels, imazapyr is harmful if swallowed or absorbed through the skin. Contact with skin, eyes or clothing should be avoided. Glyphosate causes moderate eye irritation and is harmful if swallowed or inhaled. Contact with the eyes should be avoided. Triclopyr is corrosive and can cause serious eye damage. It is also a potential skin sensitizer from exposure to concentrate.

Whitenack said when his wife went outside to see why the dog was barking, she could smell the chemicals and even tasted them. He’s also concerned about run-off, as there’s a creek running alongside the property.

“We don’t know what it’s doing to our fruit trees; we don’t know what it’s doing to the water table,” he added.

News 13 reached out to Duke Energy. Spokesperson Jeff Brooks said spraying herbicide is standard procedure.

“The herbicides that we use are generally designed to be safe around humans and animals,” Brooks said. “They’re primarily water-based when you look at them, and they are approved by the EPA for the purposes that they’re used.”

According to Brooks, Duke Energy is increasingly turning to herbicides over physically removing vegetation for longevity and crew safety purposes. Unless they are applying herbicide with helicopters or other aerial means, Brooks said they do not typically notify residents. He did say the vegetation management process is explained in customers’ annual bill notice.

“Trees and vegetation are part of the natural beauty of the world that we live in in North Carolina, but they’re also the leading cause of power outages,” Brooks said. “When you have an outage on a transmission line like this, it doesn’t affect three or four customers, it affects an entire community.”

Brooks said Duke Energy lists all of its products used in vegetation management on its website and will consider no-spray requests from customers.

According to Whitenack, he requested to be included on the no-spray list but has not heard back.

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