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

Two years after an impoundment pond containing toxic coal ash at a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) fossil fuel plant broke, spilling a billion gallons of sludge onto 300 acres of rural east Tennessee, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) still isn’t sure whether to recommend that coal ash be classified as a hazardous material. Shortly after the spill, the agency was charged with recommending a classification for the material as part of a federal investigation into the environmental disaster.

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed an enforceable agreement with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to oversee the removal of coal ash from its east Tennessee fossil fuel plant where a coal ash impoundment breached and dumped more than a billion gallons of toxic coal ash on to a neighboring community and into the Emory River. The TVA was also ordered to reimburse the EPA for any costs associated with its oversight of the cleanup.

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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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December’s massive coal ash spill in east Tennessee has raised concerns over the safety of a longtime agricultural practice, according to Environmental Health News, a publication of the Environmental Health Sciences.

Crops in the Southeast and Midwest are grown in soil that has been routinely supplemented with tons of fly ash. Some of the more common crops grown in this amended soil include a variety of vegetables and peanuts.

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