1999 was the year that a pesticide by the trade name Lindane was discovered in the Old Barbers Orchard in West Waynesville, NC. Lindane is a trade name for hexachlorocyclohexane, HCH and is a moderately toxic compound in EPA Toxicity Class II. It is no longer manufactured in the United States and use has been canceled by the EPA because of concerns about the compound’s potential to cause cancer.

The old orchard of approximately 438 acres had been sold to developers and converted into a residential development. One of the new homeowners who happened to be pregnant at the time, felt concern about her water and called in the EPA to do testing. Water tests came back positive for Lindane. Only one home in the area tested over the proposed level of safety 0.0002 mg/L. West Carolina Water Treatment was requested to place a bid for treatment of that home by CMC, Inc., the company responsible for providing removal of the pesticides from the water at that location. October 1, 1999 we installed a carbon filter at the residence where the levels exceeded acceptable amounts of Lindane. The EPA monitored that site regularly and found no dangerous levels of pesticides in the water. Many other concerned residents from that area contacted us and we installed an additional 18 units for individual’s homes. Continued pesticide related problems persisted in the soil at Barber Orchard Sub Division also causing soil removal from several sites.