TVA leaves some coal ash spill victims high and dry
April 17th, 2009 by Jennifer Walker-Journey
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has paid more than $20 million buying 71 properties in the east Tennessee community that were affected by the December 2008 coal ash impoundment breach. And while TVA is negotiating to buy more, it has already turned down 160 other offers from residents in the area, according to Forbes/Associated Press.
“We are trying to balance between doing the right thing by the people that were impacted by this (and) keeping in mind that this is ratepayer money,” TVA senior vice president Peyton Hairston told The Associated Press last week.
The buyout is part of a massive cleanup and recovery effort by the nation’s largest utility after its Kingston, Tennessee, impoundment pond failed, dumping more than a billion gallons of coal ash sludge onto 300 acres of a rural, east Tennessee community. The sludge piled as high as eight feet in some areas and knocked several homes off their foundations.
TVA received more than 200 requests from property owners wiling to sell property they felt was affected or devalued by the spill, and is deciding which properties warrant buying out. “As we work through this process we have to be able to determine that some people are just outside the area that we feel has been impacted,” Hairston said.
But critics say that even those whose property didn’t suffer immediate damage may still suffer ill effects from the spill, from diminished home values to noise pollution from the 20-hour-per-day cleanup crews. But at higher concern is the environmental issues that may arise as coal ash sludge seeps into the ground, pours into the Emory River, and flies into the wind as it dries up. Coal ash may contain toxins that can lead to serious health conditions such as cancer, liver damage and neurological disorders. Several residents in the area also have complained of respiratory problems and heightened anxiety since the spill.