TVA rates coal ash dumps in Alabama, Tennessee as 'high hazard'
July 19th, 2009 by Jennifer Walker-Journey
Following protests by environmentalists to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has upgraded four of its coal ash sites to a high hazard rating, according to the New York Times. The news comes a month after the EPA released a list of 44 “high hazard” coal ash dump sites across the country, meaning if a dam failure occurred, it would put human life at risk. Utilities were asked to evaluate their own sites. Coincidentally, none of the TVA’s 12 coal ash storage sites made the list.
Environmentalists criticized the EPA for allowing the TVA to rate its own facilities. Two weeks after the protests, the TVA raised the hazard level of two coal ash storage ponds in Tennessee and two in Alabama. In a letter to the EPA, the TVA defended the move, saying it changed the ratings “in the interest of taking a conservative, self-critical approach.” The ratings do not gauge the likelihood of dam failure, rather the potential damage that could occur if the dam fails.
Last December, a coal ash storage pond at the TVA’s Kingston, Tennessee facility failed, spilling more than a billion gallons of coal ash on to more than 300 acres of a neighboring community. The spill damaged homes and destroyed property, contaminated local waterways, and has made residents in the area ill. The TVA is currently involved in a massive cleanup of the area, which is expected to cost nearly $1 billion before it is complete.