Asheville Citizen-Times from Asheville, North Carolina • Page 6

ASHEV1LLE CITIZEN-TIMES TUESDAY, AUO. 29, 1995 Park in Peril: Problems facing the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Park 5 -JiL verse impact on air quality," James Coleman, the National Park Ser-V" vice's regional director, said in a letter to Tennessee officials. "Visibility Is severely degradeS, and vegetation is being injured. "SoQ and water resources are-at serious risk." The state turned a deaf ear to -the plea, and the boiler was built Part of the problem is the Park Service has no authority to curtail-pollution sources, only the limited J-power of persuasion. And states are reluctant to take measures that could hurt economic opportunities or cost businesses money.

Under the Clean Air Act, the Park Service is invited to comment' on state air quality permit appUca, tions when a proposed new facility would emit more than 100 tons per. year of a single pollutant Over the past years, park of finals have sent the state of Tennessee comments on 23 permit applications covering projects near the park. Those comments described the damage already documented and -recommended that any increases In pollution permitted be offset by re ductions fa pollutant output else- where and that the best available control technology be employed to minimize the amount of new pollu-j Hon. In all 23 cases, the state grant; ed the permits and ignored the rec-, ommendations. But three years ago, a coalition of federal agencies and states in the region banded together to create the Southern Appalachian Mountain Initiative.

Its goal is to assess the effects'-' of air poUution and what might be done to reduce it 'J A draft report with recommendations is due out next year. However, the non-profit agency carries no enforcement powers. -'3 "We're trying to use good sci- ence to produce good information Vl for decision makers to use," said Leslie Cox, SAMI coordinator. "Everyone recognizes there are air quality problems. "This is an opportunity to -change the way environmental management decisions are made in the future." TOMORROW: Many of the park's native plants and animals have been torcedfcv carwfthaargeras foreign Invaders, many oi which have no natural enemies In the Southern Appalachians.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS VWtors mqr nistake tin ban Smokies ftr the nbt that gam the OMrtahti their rsmc, bat Meat of It is caased by air paOatloa. Continued from page Ik compounds that are the byproducts of burning fossil fuels. Motor vehicles are a large contributor to the problem. Renfro said park researcher have documented damage from ozone to 30 species of plants. Another 66 or so species have symptoms that appear to show ozone damage.

Because of prevailing winds on the unique terrain, daily ozone readings in the park are often higher than the downtowns of many major cities. This summer ozone levels in the park reached 123 parts per billion, just short of the federal threshold beyond which the air is considered unhealthy. Ozone has been shown to cause respiratory and other health problems at much lower levels. "On average the ozone levels over the ridge tops of the Southern Appalachians can be twice as high as in many urban areas of the South," Renfro said. ACID DEPOSITION: Better known as acid rain, it is formed when water mixes with sulfur dioxide, which is produced primarily by coal-burning power plants, to create sulfuric acid.

Another contributor is automobiles, which emit nitrogen oxides that are converted in the atmosphere to nitric acid. The brew returns to Earth in the form of rain, fog, snow or soot Rainfall in the Smokies is five to 10 times more acidic than normal rain. High elevations suffer more because clouds carrying the mixture of pollutants literally scrape across mountain peaks. Acid rain has acidified some lakes and streams in the Northeast and Canada to the point that no aquatic life remains. Renfro said soils and streams in the Smokies are becoming acidified, but research has not yet documented mortality to fish in the park from the pollution.

"That doesn't mean it's not happening," he said. "They are very acidic at higher elevations. The capacity of the streams to neutralize the acid is almost zero." Some researchers also believe acid deposition has weakened stands of Fraser fir trees on mountain ridges in the park, allowing a tiny insect called the balsam wooley DECLINING VISIBILITY Average summertime visibility in the Smokies has declined dramatically with increases in air pollution. 2 mirvlslbility adelgid to attack the trees and kill them. VISIBILITY IMPAIRED: Sulfur compounds from coal emissions are not only an ingredient of add deposition.

The tiny particles are what obscures the park's vistas. Visibility during summer months has been reduced 80 percent over the past 40 years. The bluish haze that is the namesake of the park has been replaced by a whitish-yellowish shroud. And Renfro said it's getting worse. Sulfate concentrations in the park's air increased by 39 percent from 1982 to 1992, a larger percentage increase than any other monitored location in the country, including Los Angeles.

Ozone levels are rising and visibility falling to such an extent that park officials said earlier this month that air quality advisories are being considered. "We've really reached the wall," Renfro said. "We're basically saturated with air pollution in a number of ways. 1 VJ8. Rep.

Charles Taylor, a Republican representing Western North Carolina, said he supports the Clean Air Act, but it's too soon to teU if the law wfll work as it was intended. "We have to monitor the results," he said. "We ought to continue to monitor and press for clean air activities. We've made a lot of progress, and I'd like to see us make more." Taylor said an obvious success story is the requirement that automobiles have catalytic converters to reduce emissions. The U.S.

should press for more nuclear power plants because they create no air pollution, he said. "It's a question of options," Taylor said. 'The best coal-fired burner is going to have problems." PARK EFFORTS FRUSTRATED: Four years ago park officials went on record opposing an air pollution permit for a proposed coal-fired boiler at a Tennessee Eastman Co. plant in Kingsport, Term. The boiler would have an "ad "AH these pollutants are regional in nature, coming from outside the park boundaries.

They are mainly coming in from the Ohio River Valley and the Tennessee River Valley, but they come from as far away as the Northeast and Gulf Coast states. "The Appalachians are the first mountain chain these polluted air masses intercept A lot of times these ridge tops don't get a break from ozone." Congress took a step toward curtailing air pollution with passage of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, but the only real "bite" in the legislation was a mandated 60 percent reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions, according to Renfro. The Environmental Protection Agency projects that the amendments will result in a 20 to 26 percent improvement in visibility over the next 10 to 16 years. "That doesn't cut it with us," Renfro said. But even that modest gain could be undone with Republicans now running things in Congress.

Al- MARTHA SlROUftCmZtN-TIMES ready this year more than 30 bills have been introduced to repeal or relax key elements of the law. One bill, introduced by House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, would repeal the entire 1990 law, on which Congress worked for more than 13 years. Storm xJ? JF. Campers set up their tents in the Lake Lure Police Department parking lot after being evacuated from two campgrounds in the Chimney Rock area, Bryson said. Workers at Asheville's Kennedy Oil, a Riverside Drive business that flooded in January and last August, didn't take any chances Sunday.

They moved all its trucks to higher ground and were delighted to see the French Broad River across the street staying within its banks Monday. Mountain Home resident Byrd Jones experienced the high waters firsthand. Just before noon Monday he tried to drive his 1979 Chevrolet pickup through three feet of water on Brookade Camp Road where it crosses Mud Creek. "I'd have been all right if I had stayed on the hard road," said Byrd, 60, who was heading to his job at Seneca Foods. "It swept me right off." Henderson County Fire Marshal Rocky Hyder said- the rescue was the third where Brookside Camp crosses Mud Creek since Sunday and the fifth overall in the county.

Rescue workers saved a 10-year-old boy trying to swim in Mud Creek Sunday after he got hung up on a nearby fence. Continued from page Ik Rutherford, Henderson, Polk and Transylvania. In parts of Henderson County, 15 inches of rain fell in a 36-hour period Saturday and Sunday, officials said. In Henderson County, Sugar-loaf Mountain got 15 inches of rain between 2 a.m. Saturday and 2 p.m.

Sunday, Bryson said. The Bearwallow Creek area got about 12 inches during the 36 hours. Buncombe County experienced flooding at French Broad River Park, and there were places where water covered Riverside Drive and Swannanoa River Road sometimes several feet deep, according to officials and employees who work in the vicinity. Flat Top Mountain received 6.5 inches, while Beaverdam and New Found creeks each got 3.5 inches, Bryson said. Counties west of Balsam didnt have much rain at an, he said.

Swannanoa firefighters evacuated five trailers along the Swannanoa River Sunday from a campground that often floods after heavy rains. Assistant Assistant Chief Garry Bartlett said. f- t- fmmx; v. GARY F1EIDSCm ZEN-TIMES aew et beat hi lhM aay IWds ay the Frmch BrMd Rhw. The SkyM bstrt waa trakriag SlijflMtf flraflttrs trahi Un Or war Mm iw avartanna, aM naa parsaal aaatstal la the rate al the Othivali Kafer Rescue others.

James Damon Davidson, 17, also of AsheviUe, is also charged with the fire. Investigators say Smith and Davison have not expressed remorse for the death of Cotton or those injured in the fire. "Every now and then I feel a very strong anger against this man," Kafer said. "But for the most part, I fed very sad. I cant comprehend somebody doing something like this.

It's so far beyond anything I think." Her plans are both monumental and seemingly inconsequential: learning to write with fingers that cannot fed the pen nor grip it; teaching herself to cook, drive and walk alone again; and enrolling in graduate school to earn a teaching degree. She wants to teach art to elementary school students. Friend Debbie Delraan, 26, said Rater's spirit has inspired everyone who meets her. "Her progress has been rapid and unbelievable," Delman said. "She's really special she was before the fire and that's probably why she survived." Continued from page for the French Broad near Kennedy O0.

City firemen had been rotating in and out of their $17,000, 16-foot jet boat since about 1 pjn. The best way to learn rough water is to be in rough water, Cornett said. The men patrolled awhile, negotiating the tree-trunk sized logs and low-hanging limbs. Then about 3:30 p.m, downstream from Long Shoals Road in Arden, Cantrefl noticed something stretched across the river, a ated cable about the size of a man's little finger. "Cable!" he yelled.

"I put it in reverse," Cornett remembers. "But it was too late. The boat was already over the cable. The cable turned the boat sideways and the current hit the aide of the boat, and it then the windshield. "Every which way I turned, there was no way out," he said.

He's not sure how long he was trapped. Two, three minutes maybe, but said: "It seemed like an eternity." "I finaDy grabbed a hold of something, and I pulled," he said. "I pulled real hard toward the daylight" When Cornett finaDy surfaced, he scanned the water for his buddies. "My biggest concern was for the guys," he said. "I knew everybody was strong boat could be replaced.

The guys eouloVt" CantreD had already made it to shore. Moody and Anders had crawled on top of the boat CantreU had flagged down a passer-by, who called for help on a cellular phone. Cornett grasped tree Hmb after tree limb and pulled himself to shore. Skjrland Volunteer Fire Department, training nearby, rushed to the scene with their own boat and plucked Moody and Anders from the water. About 8 pjn.

Monday, one lane of the westbound span of Interstate 26 was closed so a crane could hoist the boat up to the road. Its windshield is gone, as are a few supplies, but damage is relatively minimal, Chief John Rukavina said. The chief said he's checking on whether the cable was strung illegally. If so, it's against federal law and carries a stiff fine, he said. Cornett is quiet about what the four men said and did once gathered safely at the shore.

His cheek and Up trembling, he would say only: "There was some camaraderie." Their hair and ckrthes still wet the firefighters lingered near the Sandy Mush section of the French Broad River Monday, shaking hands with colleagues as the fire chief talked to newspaper, radio and TV reporters. All four planned to finish their shifts even Cornett, who aays he's glad his 86th birthday wasnt abo the date of his death. Tm not hurt," Cornett said. "Sometimes it's better if you stick around, and work it out with each other." After most of the reporters cleared away, Rukavina offered his portable phone to Cornett, who called his wife on her ear phone. She'd just left work as assistant manager at Kentucky Finance, headed to pick up their 8-y ear-old son, Marcus.

She hadnt heard about the accident Tm all right, when you watch the news," he said. "10 call you later. I love you." Continued from page Ik cause she was outside, she assumed she could practically walk away. A foggy ambulance ride was the last thing she remembers of a long, intense month of a daily fight for life. Doctors told her family each day counted, but were pessimistic about Rater's chances.

But a month later, she came out of the heavy, drugged sleep that had kept her from feeling the pain of the skin grafts and surgery she endured almost every day for more than a month. The only days doe-tor's didnt operate on Alison Kafer were Christmas and New Year's, her mother Becky Kafer recalls. When Alison Kafer woke, she knew Cotton was dead. "I remember knowing before anyone told me," she said. About the time she mitiaOy woke up in January, investigators arrested Jamie Lamont Smith, 19, who they believe is responsible for the Grace Apartments fire and two Cornett was submerged, trapped under the boat He tried desperately to swim from under it, but couldn't The current was too strong.

The murky water obscured his vision. He remembers feeling the steering wheel,.