TVA proposes to convert wet-ash storage to dry ash
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Board of Directors is expected to approve a plan to convert the agency’s six wet-ash storage ponds at coal-firing plants in Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky to dry ash storage within eight years. TVA CEO Tom Kilgore has been discussing the likelihood since just after a coal ash storage ponds at the TVA’s Kingston, Tennessee plant failed, sending 1.1 billion gallons of toxic coal ash onto a neighboring community.
The spill destroyed homes and damaged property, creating one of the largest environmental disasters in U.S. history. It also stirred up a flurry of concern from concerned citizens and environmentalists who argue that coal ash sites should fall under federal regulation as a hazardous material, as the material can be detrimental to human life.