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

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) should be prosecuted and penalized for not ensuring the safety of its Kingston, Tenn., coal ash impoundment pond to prevent it from breaking and spilling a billion gallons of toxic coal ash on to a neighboring rural community, according to angry environmental groups. But a long-standing federal rule that limits how the Justice Department can prosecute federal agencies could protect the nation’s largest utility from paying its fair dues.

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A new federal survey reports that 34 coal ash impoundment ponds at U.S. coal burning utilities have spilled their toxic contents in the past decade, according to the Associated Press. Many of the spills were minor compared to last December’s tragic spill at an east Tennessee plant that dumped more than a billion gallons of coal ash sludge on to 300 acres of a neighboring community, knocked homes from their foundations, destroyed property, and contaminated nearby waterways. That spill at a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) plant spurred the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to survey all coal-burning sites in the country, sites that are not regulated by the federal government.

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