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Residents of east Tennessee probably thought little of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) coal-firing plant in Kingston, or the toxic brew of coal ash that had been brimming in an impoundment pond for years. But as residents built homes on property just miles away and fished and boated in the Emory River that snaked nearby, the pond walls were beginning to seep and were showing erosion scarring in some areas.
AlterNet.org is reporting that during testing of the water in the Emory River, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) may have intentionally collected the samples from clean areas, backing up the utility’s claim that that residents’ drinking water is safe. The Emory is a major supplier of drinking water in the area and a popular spot for water sports such as swimming, boating and fishing. However, third-party tests have found high levels of toxins in the river as well as in private wells, according to the report.
Southern California community members worried about the ill effects from coal-burning mines and power plants are conducting a 100-day national campaign uniting 100 communities in the area urging lawmakers to phase out of coal-based energy and transition to cleaner, renewable sources that would produce more green jobs, according to the Palm Springs (California) My Desert.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has promised to make good on a promise it made nine years ago to issue regulations for coal ash storage. The announcement comes more than two months after a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) impoundment pond failed and dumped more than a billion gallons of toxic coal ash on to 300 acres of east Tennessee property, destroying homes and damaging land in its wake.
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has been given permission to dredge the Emory River to remove ash that spilled into it after the utility’s coal ash pond failed last December and poured more than a billion gallons of toxic material on to 300 acres of east Tennessee property, according to MSNBC. The dredging is part of the TVA’s $1-million-a-day effort to clean up the massive mess, and was one of the items detailed in the utility’s cleanup plan aimed to return the community to “as good, if not better (condition) than they were before.”
It’s been more than two months now since the east Tennessee coal ash spill that dumped 1.1 billion gallons of toxic material on to 300 acres of land, and residents there are pausing to take a deep breath – only to realize they’re having problems doing so. According to the Associated Press, residents living near the spill site are “experiencing breathing problems, stress and anxiety.”
