Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

The new chairman for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) says the disastrous coal ash spill that dumped more than a billion gallons of toxic material on to an east Tennessee community and into the Emory River must never happen again, according to WHNT-TV.

Kentucky baker and former Republican Party chairman Mike Duncan, who has signed on to oversee the nation’s largest utility, made the comment at the board’s meeting earlier this week. He said the agency is already facing an uphill battle with lower electric sales from the downturn in the economy and mounting costs to clean up the mess left behind by the spill.

Those cleanup costs are estimated to ring in at more than $975 million. TVA is also facing numerous lawsuits from property owners and some are looking to the utility to foot a $1.9 million public relations campaign to restore the tattered image of the area since the coal ash spill.

Coal ash, which contains dangerous toxins such as arsenic, lead, chromium, manganese and barium, has been associated with serious health problems such as cancer, liver damage and neurological damage. Some residents in the area – including a young child – have tested positive for heaving metals in their blood.

Duncan says he is confident the utility can find “new efficiencies in our costs at the same time that we find new ways to protect our environment.”

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