ASHEVILLE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — New Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin was in Asheville Friday afternoon touring water treatment facilities and homes that were damaged when Hurricane Helene hit in September.
Zeldin was confirmed last week, and he sat down exclusively with Queen City News in Asheville’s hard-hit River Arts District.
He said most of the EPA’s work is complete, as they oversee hazardous material cleanup. However, Zeldin told Queen City News that does not mean they will be leaving the area, the agency takes on any work assigned to them by FEMA.
“We want to do everything in our power to assist,” said Zeldin. “It’s good to see where we just came from, Lake Lure, Chimney Rock, there’s more of an Army Corps presence over the last couple of weeks.”
Zeldin believes their mission in Western NC was accomplished, but he said there needs to be improvement when it comes to communication.
“Communication is something that has always been a big pet peeve of mine,” he added. “There is that uncertainty on a timeline. When will my electricity come back up, when will my water come back to my house? When will it be safe to drink? It’s important that those dates, as best as possible, don’t move. And it’s important to be honest with the public and letting them know where to set their own expectations.”
With a new administration in the White House, there’s been a lot of talk about changes in funding and staffing at several agencies and departments. Zeldin insisted those changes would not interfere with the recovery.
“In Los Angeles, where I just came from, the president set a 30-day timeline for us to finish phase one of hazardous material removal,” he said. “That was a very ambitious target date, but I would say one of the ways that you’re able to condense a deadline is to have that challenge placed on an agency.”
