› $150,000,000 verdict in personal injury case
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will send its first teams of inspectors to coal ash storage areas across the country within weeks, according to Knoxville Business News. The inspections are the first step in developing new coal ash regulations for an industry not currently overseen by federal regulations.
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has asked a federal judge to dismiss all lawsuits filed against it as a result of the December 22, 2008, coal ash spill at the utility’s Kingston, Tennessee, coal-firing plant, according to the Ledger-Enquirer/Associated Press. The spill occurred when a coal ash impoundment pond failed and dumped more than a billion gallons of toxic material on to 300 acres of a neighboring community and into the Emory River.
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has paid more than $20 million buying 71 properties in the east Tennessee community that were affected by the December 2008 coal ash impoundment breach. And while TVA is negotiating to buy more, it has already turned down 160 other offers from residents in the area, according to Forbes/Associated Press.
Power plants in the U.S. 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 pounds. In 2000, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) listed that material as non-hazardous and thus it didn’t fall under any strict government regulations.
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.
For decades, engineers raised questions about the walls of an impoundment pond containing toxic coal ash at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Kingston, Tennessee coal-burning plant, according to the KnoxvilleBiz.com. They questioned the way the walls were built and argued that they were not initially designed to stand as tall as they did. Those concerns fell on deaf ears then, but now have a voice after the walls of the pond broke loose last December and dumped 1.1 billion gallons of toxic material on to 300 acres of an east Tennessee community and into the waters of the Emory River.
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) may have to lean on customers to relieve some of its financial pains, according to the Associated Press. The nation’s largest utility is spending $1 million a day to clean up the mess left behind when a coal ash impoundment pond at its Kingston, Tennessee coal-burning plant failed and dumped more than a billion gallons of toxic material on to an east Tennessee community and into the Emory River. The coal ash spill cleanup effort is expected to cost the utility between $525 million and $825 million.
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.
A congressional committee will focus on why a large Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) coal ash impoundment failed last December, which resulted in one of the largest environmental disasters in U.S. history, according to News Channel 5. The breach caused more than a billion gallons of coal ash sludge to spill on to 300 acres of an east Tennessee community, destroying homes and damaging property in its wake. Coal ash contains dangerous toxins such as arsenic and lead which can contribute to serious health problems such as cancer, liver damage and neurological problems.
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) will host a community open house in Harriman, Tennessee, today to answer questions about the utility’s cleanup efforts and testing on air, water and soil in the area. The community open house is the second forum hosted by the TVA in an effort to keep those in the area apprised of the utility’s efforts to “right” the environmental “wrong” created when its Kingston, Tennessee coal ash impoundment pond failed late last year and poured more than a billion gallons of coal ash sludge on to 300 acres of property in a rural Tennessee community. Coal ash contains toxins such as arsenic and lead which can be hazardous to human health.
