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

Residents of Kingston, Tenn., are tired of the bad rap their rural community has gotten since a neighboring coal ash impoundment pond breached, sending a wave of toxic material on to its property and waterways. That spill, called the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, destroyed homes, damaged property, and contaminated popular waterways.

The last thing residents want is for the public to view that mess at will, even while the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) undergoes a years-long, $1.2 billion cleanup of the mess it made. Those residents this week applauded a decision made by the TVA to keep an overlook area closed to the general public. Instead, the area will remain behind a locked gate and only be used for scheduled tours, visits by members of Congress and their staffs, other public officials, and the media.

“I am pleased that the TVA has taken into account the thoughts and wishes of the community this ash spill has affected and stopped plans for a public overlook,” says Randy Ellis, who serves on a community advisory panel.

While praised by some, the TVA’s announcement brought criticism from other residents, saying the TVA’s plan to make the overlook a public viewing area was never announced in the first place, says Roane County Executive Mike Farmer. He says he found out about the initial plans through word-of-mouth. “That is indicative of the issue we’ve had all long – a lack of communication between TVA and the county,” he says.

While he appreciates the nation’s largest utility’s willingness to be more transparent, “I really don’t want to draw neon signs to (the disaster),” he adds. “At least they’re working with us a little bit.”

Source: Knox News

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 11:32 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.