Larry Penkava
ASHEBORO — Local officials broke ground last week on a project to send water to an area contaminated by underground fuel tanks.
The ceremony took place on a cold, breezy afternoon on U.S. 64 across from Stuart-Bowman Auto Centre. The water line will run eastward for about three miles, terminating at Dewey Road.
The project came about when the wells of 22 homes in the area of Loflin Pond Road, near Blue Mist Restaurant, were found in 2002 to be contaminated by underground tanks of area service stations. It has taken a collaboration among Randolph County, the City of Asheboro, the N.C. Rural Center and the N.C. Department of Environment & Natural Resources to finally get the water line construction started.
As county commissioners and city council members wielded shovels, David Townsend, director of Public Works for Randolph County, noted the cooperation of the groups involved.
“I think it’s going to be good for this part of the county,” he said.
Harold Holmes, chairman of the county Board of Commissioners, said he was “looking forward to having water all the way to the Blue Mist, and someday even farther.”
Asheboro Mayor David Smith said he’d “like to come right back with sewer. That’ll be a good thing, too.”
Triangle Grading won the bid to lay the water line and plans to begin on March 1. The county will oversee construction, using a $500,000 Rural Center grant and a $390,000 DENR grant. When completed, the City of Asheboro will assume ownership and maintenance of the line. The city has agreed to pay the county back for any expenses incurred.
Homeowners along the route of the water line will have the option to connect to the line, which will pipe water from the Asheboro Water Plant.
