An application to the state for a waste water discharge permit for a 30-acre camp with 175 RV hook-ups and 24 cabins is causing controversy in Macon County.

The Tennessee River RV Park would use above-ground individual sewage treatment centers known as aerobic treatment units for each trailer. These units will allow more trailers to be put on the land than septic tanks could serve. The units would release treated waste directly into the Little Tennessee River.
The park is being built by Randy Russotti of Glenville in Jackson County. Russotti says the treatment units are safe and would release effluent that is cleaner than the water already flowing in the river.

“If there are any concerns about this polluting the river from the state and the county, then I want to hear them. Creating a pollution problem is not what I want to do,” Russotti said.

Despite Russotti's assurances, some are still concerned. The effluent release from the park would be upstream of parts of the river popular for swimming, tubing and boating. It is also upstream of pools used by two local churches for baptisms.

The Little Tennessee River below the proposed discharge site is one of the most biologically healthy rivers in the Blue Ridge area and in the state. The RV park would be the first point source pollution on that part of the river about 5 miles outside of the town limits of Franklin.

“It’s the size and volume of this that’s important,” says Roger Turner of the Western North Carolina Alliance. “There aren’t any other discharges. We don’t have a problem with the individual homeowner, but this is volume in a high contact area.”

During the camping season of May to October, the fully occupied camp would discharge a total of 4.82 million gallons of waste. The proposal says that this is when the Little Tennessee’s water levels are the highest.

Turner, however, says that is wrong.

“He’s got it reversed,” he said.

These months are actually when water levels are lowest.

“The waste will have a higher impact with less water in the river. There’s less volume to mix with so it will be more charged,” according to Turner.

The waste would contain fecal coliform, levels of which must be limited in areas used for body contact recreation. Waste water with fecal coliform in it can be treated with chlorine; however, the chlorine is toxic to fish and shellfish and could cause the ecosystem to decline and critical species to be lost.

“Humans and critters have to be protected,” says Turner, who does not believe that it would be possible to treat the RV park’s sewage in a way that would be acceptable.

Russotti said a massive amount of engineering work has been done merely to be able to apply for a permit. He said the state will assess his permit request thoroughly.

“Look, it has to be completely up to their (the state’s) standards,” Russotti said. He blamed the controversy on those who simply are opposed to development.

“There are people in the neighborhood and conservationists who don't want any kind of development in that area,” he said.

Russotti said if critics will come up with real concerns he is willing to listen. He described his plans as “flexible” and said he has no timetable to complete the project.

The Little Tennessee is the habitat of several threatened and endangered species, as well as almost half the native fresh water fish species in North Carolina and more mussels than any other part of the state, which could be harmed by chlorine and byproducts of sewage treatment. Index of Biotic Integrity studies have scored the river’s health and diversity as excellent. The river is currently being considered for reclassification as Outstanding Resource Waters, which would allow for no new or expanded waste water discharges. Some think the permit should be delayed for the next two years until the classification process is complete.

In addition, the Anti-Degradation Clause of the federal Clean Water Act may apply to the discharge because of the nutrients and chlorine it would contain.

“It’s the policy of the North Carolina Department of the Environment, Health and Natural Resources to maintain, protect and enhance water quality in North Carolina. Part of their mandate is to protect existing uses such as the baptisms, swimming and tubing that go on,” said Turner.

Further concern is caused by the proposed location of the RV park in the floodplain of the Little Tennessee, and the concern that the permit proposal contains insufficient evidence of the location of the flood line. Flooding could cause backups and spills, and there is a possibility that the facility may malfunction when it is shut down and restarted each year.

Russotti said it is because the land is in the floodplain that he is having to use the individual treatment units. A septic system adequate to handle the proposed RV park is not allowed in the floodplain.
Turner also said a huge trailer park downstream of Franklin would change the character of the area and set a precedent for more development of its type.

Rev. Wiley Gibson, whose family has owned land in Macon County for many generations, is among the locals opposed to the RV park.

“I hope it doesn’t happen, not on our river. There’s a swimming hole right in front of our house where kids swim and fish, and I don’t want to see that stuff going into the water.” Gibson, who knows the owners and histories of all the surrounding land, says the proposed location of the RV park is part of the old Gibson farm.

“I thought he was buying it for a homestead, but then I found out what it was really for. This is our home, a nice quiet community. A trailer park and road will kill all that,” said Gibson.

 

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