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

A Tennessee state advisory board is calling for tougher regulation of coal ash impoundment ponds and recommending that the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) turn over control of its storage ponds to the Dam Safety Group, according to WRAL. The board, which formed in the wake of last year’s massive coal ash spill from the Kingston, Tenn., TVA plant, released a report this week outlining its recommendations. The board also recommended that an independent board oversee the design, construction and closure of ash retention ponds.

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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.

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