“No corporation or agency should be above the law, especially at the expense of the environmental well-being of our citizens, wildlife and waters,” said Robert Dreher, senior vice president for conservation law and climate change at Defenders of Wildlife, one of the environmental groups outraged by the notion that the TVA may skirt fines and charges because of the law.

TVA officials say the allegations are unfounded, as they are already subject to penalties and lawsuits filed by citizen groups and the Environmental Protection Agency. TVA also is taking measures to change the way it stores coal ash by converting its wet ash ponds to dry storage.

The Environmental Integrity Project, one of the environmental groups leading the fight against the TVA, says the utility is one of the nation’s worst polluters and displays the “latest and most dramatic example of environmental mismanagement.” The group sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to have the Justice Department stop protecting the TVA from penalties. The group also recommended that Obama appoint new directors to TVA’s governing board and order the utility to establish a timeline for its plan to convert its wet storage to dry and phase out old coal-firing plants.

Sources:
Associated Press
Chattanooga Times Free Press

SOURCE: Coal Ash Spill › Environmentalist groups want TVA to be prosecuted, fined

The survey identified nearly 600 coal ash sites in 35 states from 219 facilities, and though it did find spills had occurred at those sites, the agency either did not receive any information or did not detect any issues at the sites that would require any immediate action.

U.S. power plants produce more than 125 million tons of coal combustion waste each year, most of which ends up in dry landfills or in above-ground coal slurry ponds like that which failed in east Tennessee last December. Coal ash contains toxins that are dangerous to humans, including arsenic, lead, chromium, manganese and barium. These toxins have been associated with serious health consequences such as cancer, liver damage and neurological complications. To date, the EPA has found groundwater contaminated with heavy metals from coal ash dumps at 67 sites.

Last December’s spill has raised serious questions by environmentalists as to the safety of coal ash sites and has pushed for federal regulation of those sites. Defining that regulation has yet to be worked out.

Meantime, Jim Roewer, executive director of the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group, says that the survey offers some peace of mind. “There are no ticking time bombs,” he says.

SOURCE: Coal Ash Spill › EPA survey finds numerous coal ash spills over past decade