Coal Ash Spill Ruled Negligent

By: Duane Craig


Hundreds of property owners who have taken the Tennessee Valley Authority to court over the 2008 spill of contaminated sludge near Kingston, Tenn., were pleased with a judge’s opinion that TVA is liable for damages stemming from the spill, according to this report.

Still, many admit they will never recover what they lost and that any settlements will not change the damage that’s been done. The spill released 5 million cubic yards of ash that was being stored in a containment pond. The material contained all the by-products released from the burning of coal, including “arsenic, boron, cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury and other metals.” The sludge flowed into a river and contaminated land all along its course, ultimately making the waterway unsafe for many of the uses residents previously enjoyed. After more than $1.2 billion has been spent on the cleanup, there remains more to do. A half million cubic yards of ash have settled onto the river bottom where it will simply remain, potentially be capped, or be removed.

TVA had claimed there was nothing it could have done to prevent the failure since there were things beyond its ability to control that precipitated the catastrophe. The judge, however, called into question the utility’s handling of the ash, writing that it did not follow its own procedures, policies and practices which caused it to miss the warning signs of impending failure. By not recognizing those signs the utility failed to take actions that could have prevented the disaster.
To date, the utility has purchased 180 of the affected properties and settled 200 other claims. Still, there is a case load involving more than 800 plaintiffs in the court system.

The Environmental Protection Agency published a list of the coal ash surface impoundments that have high hazard ratings. The list is published to help local responders and community officials adequately plan for other such disasters. As of April 2012 the agency had identified 676 places where coal ash is being stored and found 45 of those to be highly hazardous.

States with the heaviest concentrations of these ticking time bombs include Arizona, North Carolina and Ohio. Arizona’s problems are located in Cochise and Joseph City while North Carolina’s problems are more widespread at Spencer, Eden, Terrell, Belmont, Walnut Cove, Arden and Mount Holly. Ohio has potential spills in Brilliant, Cheshire and Waterford. Kentucky also has its share of troubled impoundments including Harrodsburg, Ghent, Louisa and Louisville.

Other states with troubled coal ash impoundments include Montana, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana and West Virginia.

TVA Fossil Plants Report Groundwater Contamination

By: Duane Craig

Tennessee Valley fossil-fuel plants contaminating groundwater

The Tennessee Valley Authority, operator of 21 fossil fueled power plants, three nuclear power plants, 29 hydroelectric dams, 14 solar power generation sites, 18 wind turbines and one methane-assisted fossil fuel power plant, has been told by its own inspector general that eight of nine fossil-fueled plants with groundwater monitoring had contaminants in the groundwater that exceeded federal limits.
The OIG also said the TVA, a wholly-owned but self-funded agency of the U.S. government, was in some cases not performing the monitoring required by its permits.
Two plants named in the OIG's report were placed on the highest severity assessment for exceeding a health based groundwater protection standard. The Cumberland plant, northwest of Nashville, was one of those, and Gallatin was the other. Both plants are on the Cumberland River.
Two other plants, Bull Run and John Sevier were placed on Phase II assessment for a significant increase in contaminants above the background levels. Bull Run is near Oak Ridge, Tennessee and the John Sevier plant is near Rogersville, Tennessee. According to its own account, the John Seveir plant released more than 5,000 pounds of toxins into water there in 2009, including nickel compounds, lead compounds, copper compounds, chromium compounds, barium compounds, arsenic compounds and ammonia. The plant also released 31 million tons of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide into the air in 2010.
You can review all the reports of the TVA's OIG here.

Abandoned Industrial Site Haunts Tennessee Neighborhood

June 13, 2009 - The Smalley-Piper Industries property in Collierville, Tennessee has been abandoned for years, but the hazardous waste and deadly chemicals left behind are holding a community hostage. For nearly two decades, workers at Smalley-Piper manufactured battery-casings. One step of that process included dumping a liquid solution of hexavalent chromium into the drainage ditches, threatening the health of the town's residents.

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EPA Lists "High Hazard" Sites

June 30, 2009 - The Environmental Protection Agency has released a list of 44 coal ash storage sites that are a potential threat to surrounding communities. North Carolina has the largest number of these so-called "fly ash ponds" like the one that breached in Tennessee in December burying homes and contaminating water.

After the TVA dam broke near Kingston, Tennessee on Christmas Eve, the EPA called for a review of other such dams around the country. They hold the ash and toxic left-overs of coal power plants and, until now, the list of such sites was not made public.

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Petroleum Leak Contaminated Drinking Water in Tennessee Community

June 16, 2009 - The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) is investigating whether underground storage tanks are leaking petroleum into this community’s supply. A complaint from a resident has prompted the investigation. Resident Karen Fortner said that since a June 14 water main break her tap water smells of gasoline.

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Gas in the water in Friendsville, TN?

June 16, 2009 - A potential new problem is bubbling up in Friendsville's water, and it's brought state officials in to run tests. Tuesday, they will dig into a repair site to check for problems.

They think the contamination came from leaking underground storage tanks at a gas station. The station is now closed, and the tanks have been removed, but leftover contamination remains. No one responsible is now alive, so the responsibility has fallen on the state.

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Memphis Neighbors Unhappy with Contamination Settlement

April 27, 2009 - A fight for justice in a North Memphis, Tennessee neighborhood ended in disappointment for many residents. Property owners sued the "Velsicol" plant for dumping the chemical 'dieldrin' into the Cypress Creek that lead to soil contamination in their neighborhood. The $2 million settlement money was divided between 196 properties, and residents don't feel that they have been compensated adequately. One former resident says that "People are just dying off over there."

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Memphis community combats military pollutants

April 21, 2009 - A resident of Memphis, Tennessee began researching the USA Defense Depot Memphis (DDMT) and her nearby neighborhood and said that she found a history of cancer in every household. The resident recalled a letter sent by the nearby military distribution site the year before, which said that various chemicals may have seeped offsite into the draining ditches into the community.

In 1946, the Army disposed of waste at the site that included oil, paint thinners, methyl bromide, pesticides and cleaning fluids. Approximately 154,300 residents rely on drinking water from public wells within four miles of the site.

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Tennessee homeowner Foots Bill For Previous Resident's Meth Habit

February 26, 2009 -

They could not see it, smell it or touch it - but one family said they knew something in their house was making them sick.

Someone else's illegal habit may have contaminated one family's home.

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Like spill site in East Tennessee, Gallatin, TN plant puts ash in ponds

January 4, 2009 - Betty Johnson of Gallatin lives more than 100 miles from East Tennessee's massive ash sludge spill. But to her and her neighbors, the disaster hit a little too close to home.

That's because they're in the shadow of another Tennessee Valley Authority power plant — which uses the same method to store coal ash as the one that failed at the Kingston plant last month, spilling tons of potentially toxic sludge into the surrounding community.

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Tennessee Valley Authority says ash spill triple amount of original estimate

December 27, 2008 - The Tennessee Valley Authority now says three times more coal ash and water escaped Monday from the failed retention pond at the Kingston Fossil Plant than first estimated, and initial testing in the Emory River indicates nearby waters are polluted above regulatory limits for drinking water.

A TVA official said Friday the agency revised the spillage figure after an aerial survey with a radar system using laser light.

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Tenn. residents fear impact of sludgy ash spill

January 1, 2009 - The spill at Kingston Fossil Plant, which was the world's largest coal-burning power plant when it opened in 1955, occurred when walls of an above-ground storage pond gave way. The ash waste, which was stored in a massive "dredge cell" 55-60 feet high, turned into a gooey sludge containing arsenic and heavy metals.

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Massive coal-ash spill causes river of sludge and controversy

December 25, 2008 - What may be the nation's largest spill of coal ash lay thick and largely untouched over hundreds of acres of land and waterways Wednesday after a dam broke this week, as officials and environmentalists argued over its potential toxicity.

Federal studies long have shown coal ash to contain significant quantities of heavy metals such as arsenic, lead and selenium, which can cause cancer and neurological problems. But with no official word on the dangers of the sludge in Tennessee, displaced residents spent Christmas Eve worried about their health and their property and wondering what to do.

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A collapsed retaining wall spews millions of gallons of fly ash across the Tennessee valley

December 24, 2008 - A disaster that occurred early Monday morning has ruined the holidays for some residents of Knoxville, Tennessee. A retaining wall at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston coal-fired power plant collapsed, spewing 2.6 million cubic yards of fly ash across Tennessee.

According to the TVA, 400 acres of land are submerged 6-feet deep in the toxic substance. The sludge that burst out of the holding pond for power plant waste ripped an entire home from its foundations and flooded 11 other homes in the area. In addition, a train was also heavily damaged.

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Polluted groundwater in Tennessee has groups pushing for stronger protections

July 28, 2008 - DICKSON, Tenn. - Polluted groundwater in Tennessee has the NAACP looking to the governor for answers.

The organization points to Dickson as an example of what can happen to a community when a landfill goes wrong.

For years, neighbors have complained about sickness they feel was caused by polluted groundwater.

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Carcinogen Found In Franklin Tennessee Groundwater

April 14, 2008 - Crews Found Benzene Level In Groundwater Sample

Sixteen months after discovering chemical leaks in a Franklin creek, another chemical has been found under some homes.

When crews dug a well to sample ground water to determine how far tolulene and acetone contamination from the plant had spread, they didn’t find either one, but they found benzene.

Benzene is a carcinogen that can cause dizziness, vomiting and even blood disease under long-term exposure.

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Smoldering landfill fire keeps Tennessee community on edge

December 30, 2007 - Early Friday morning, firefighters evacuated a West Knox County neighborhood after uncovering dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.

It all happened less than a half mile from Ray Duncan's house.

"There's a fairly large landfill that's developed up there where a fire has gotten underneath it," said Bruce Wuethrich, from Knox County Engineering & Public Works.

And no one seems to know how long it has been smoldering.

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Officials in Murfreesboro Tennessee are testing the city's water for radioactive material.

May 30, 2007 - (AP) - Officials in Murfreesboro are testing the city's water for radioactive material. This follows reports of large amounts of low-level radioactive waste being dumped in a landfill upstream from the water supply.

The tests are in response to a recent WSMV TV investigative report that found more than ten million pounds of low-level radioactive waste from all over the country was dumped at BFI Middle Point Landfill in 2005. This was up from 166,000 pounds a year earlier.

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Cancer strikes family that used well

"Use of your well water should not result in any adverse health effects," an EPA official wrote to the Holts on Dec. 3, 1991, after one high TCE test was followed by two low ones.

But a Tennessee water official questioned the EPA's conclusions. State and federal officials agreed the Holt well should be tested further. But for nine years, no tests were conducted.

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