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PVC pipes swept away by Hurricane Helene flooding still dominate cleanup of North Carolina river

MountainTrue says crews have removed hundreds of thousands of pipes, but 80% of debris in some areas is still PVC, posing risks to rafters and kayakers.

  • Two years after Hurricane Helene, MountainTrue crews continue removing PVC pipes from an IPEX factory near Asheville that washed into the French Broad River, a cleanup spanning 70 miles of waterway.
  • IPEX officials acknowledged that 60% of pipes stored outdoors were swept away during the 2024 flood, and the company has agreed to pay MountainTrue $500,000 toward continued cleanup efforts.
  • Anna Alsobrook, MountainTrue's French Broad Riverkeeper, described the work as 'quite a tedious and technical process' involving removal from debris mounds reaching 20 feet high.
  • MountainTrue has dedicated 50,000 work-hours and over $1.5 million to pipe removal, supported by a $10 million state grant recently extended through February.
  • PVC pipe comprises 80% of debris in some areas, raising concerns about long-term environmental damage, as operations director Jon Stamper warned some pipes will likely remain indefinitely.
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17 Articles

The Toronto StarThe Toronto Star
+14 Reposted by 14 other sources
Lean Left

PVC pipes swept away by Hurricane Helene flooding still dominate cleanup of North Carolina river

WOODFIN, N.C. (AP) — They're piled on river banks, lodged in uprooted trees, embedded in sediment and jammed under logs. Many are tangled in mounds of debris up to two stories high.

·Toronto, Canada
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Winnipeg Free Press broke the news in Winnipeg, Canada on Thursday, October 8, 2026.
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