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

Roane County, Tenn. is wasting no time to put to good use the $43 million allocated to the city by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for improvements to the county’s infrastructure and other programs to help improve the city’s tarnished image. The county is trying to pull out from under more than a billion gallons of toxic material after a coal ash pond at the neighboring TVA coal-burning plant ruptured last December and sent a wave of dangerous coal ash on to nearby property, destroying houses and contaminating waterways in its wake.

TVA is engaged in a near $1 billion cleanup of the land and said it would also give money to the county to help improve its infrastructure as well as fund projects and campaigns to improve the area’s public image.

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Roane County, Tenn., was once a destination spot for retirees and locals seeking a bit of quiet and some water recreation along the Emory River. That changed nine months ago, when a coal impoundment pond at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) coal-burning plant in Kingston, Tenn., broke, sending a 1.1 billion gallon wave of toxic material on to the neighboring community. The pile of sludge pushed homes from their foundations, destroyed property and contaminated the Emory and other nearby waterways. The TVA is engaged in a near-$1 billion cleanup, but city and county officials say much more will be needed to renew the community’s tattered public image.

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At a public meeting this week, Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) consumers voiced concerns about the safety of moving toxic coal ash from the Kingston, Tenn., plant and whether the nation’s largest utility has considered natural gas for electricity production over coal and nuclear power. But those concerns may likely have fallen on deaf ears.

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Glen and Lisa Sexton listed their house in Kingston, Tennessee for sale last September and had plenty of out-of-state offers. But since an a coal ash impoundment pond at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) plant 16 miles away failed last December and flooded the neighboring community with more than a billion gallons of coal ash, no one seems interested in their home. “Our situation is we can’t sell it. It’s worthless,” Glen says.

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Lawmakers sit on both sides of the argument about whether lining the coal ash impoundment at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston, Tennessee, plant would have prevented the massive spill of toxic material onto neighboring homes and property, but legislation is moving through the Tennessee House and Senate that would require such ponds created or expanded in the future to be lined, according to the Times Free Press.

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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.

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December’s devastating coal ash spill that dumped 1.1 billion pounds of toxic material on to an east Tennessee neighborhood and into Emory River has prompted some people to question why coal ash ponds and landfills are not more heavily regulated by the federal government, according to iStockAnalyst. Last week, the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources held a legislative hearing to address a proposed bill that would set uniform design, engineering and inspection standards of impoundment ponds such as the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) failed pond that caused the massive spill.

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The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) may turn to its residential customer base to help pay for the escalating costs to clean up the widespread damage caused when one of its coal ash ponds failed last December, pouring more than a billion gallons of toxic ash and sludge onto 300 acres of rural east Tennessee, according to the Jackson Sun.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Montgomery, Ala. – Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C., has filed a class action suit on behalf of property owners damaged by the Dec. 22, 2008 Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) spill at the Kingston Fossil Plant. Located 40 miles west of Knoxville, Tenn., the plant released 1.1 billion gallons of toxin-laden sludge into a rural neighborhood when a waste storage pond retaining wall failed. The suit is filed against the TVA, the nation’s largest public utility, over potentially the most significant environmental disaster since the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Beasley Allen will be working with attorneys Gary Davis and Mary Parker in Tennessee, both of whom have Environmental experience. Beasley Allen has its own Environmental department to handle cases such as this disaster. The firm has handled previous environmental claims including a $700 million settlement with Monsanto/Solutia in Anniston, Ala., over PCB contamination, the largest environmental settlement in American history. More recently, Beasley Allen obtained a $20.7 million verdict against manufacturers of carbon black for nearby property owners, a verdict that was upheld by the United States Supreme Court.

Coal-fired power plants produce coal ash and other toxic waste byproducts. The material is usually stored on site in retention ponds or dams. A failure in the retaining wall, or an overflow, can result in an environmental disaster contaminating surrounding waterways, soil, and wildlife, and endangering human health and life.

There is ongoing debate about how coal ash is stored and regulated. Currently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency does not regulate these types of retention ponds or the materials contained in them. Surprisingly, the EPA does not consider the coal ash hazardous material. There is a great deal of debate over whether state regulations are sufficient to regulate these retention ponds, as evidenced by this most recent disaster.

“It is absolutely incredible that there is no real oversight for the storage and safe disposal of this toxic waste,” said Beasley Allen attorney Rhon Jones, who specializes in Environmental issues. “Most of these retention ponds are not lined or reinforced, and it’s inevitable that potentially hazardous material will leak out. They just are not a long-term solution. It’s only a matter of time before the next disaster. These facilities are everywhere – Alabama, Tennessee. Communities are living under a cloud, uncertain of their safety.”

There is a U.S. Senate hearing set for Jan. 8 to review the Tennessee disaster that will include representatives from the TVA and environmental groups. Beasley Allen attorneys have contacted Congressional leaders offering to speak at the hearings, and lawyers from the Beasley Allen team will be present in Washington.

SOURCE: Beasley Allen Law Firm

COMPLAINT:Official class action complaint filed in TVA case

A report published today by the Birmingham News says the coal ash retaining ponds at two Birmingham-area coal-fired energy plants contain the highest levels of arsenic in the country, ranked and Nos. 2 and 3 on a list compiled by the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP). The study evaluates the amount of ash deposited in on-site ash ponds and landfills from 2000-2006, according to the News report.

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