Recent Event Highlights: Day 284 - "60 Minutes" Investigates TVA Spill, Day 266 - TVA to Pay $43 Million on Projects in Spill Area , Day 172 - Secret Coal Ash Sites, Day 91: UMD Volunteer Cleared of All Charges, Day 88: TVA Dredges Emory River, Day 78: Another Coal Ash Spill, This Time in Maryland, and 57 more...
Created by earthjustice on Mar 18, 2009
Last updated: 03/12/10 at 12:13 AM
Tags: kingston coal ash TVA water pollution clean water act
Just days before the 1-year anniversary, EPA announces it is delaying its proposed federal regulations on coal ash ponds.
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/85d3578e15c80db98525768f006a097b?OpenDocument
Pressure is on to transform TVA in wake of ash spill.
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20091213/COLUMNIST0106/912130367/1008/OPINION01
The Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and Environment held a hearing to examine safe drinking water and health impacts associated with current practices for the disposal of coal fly ash.
http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1852:drinking-water-and-public-health-impacts-of-coal-combustion-waste-disposal&catid=130:subcommittee-on-energy-and-the-environment&Itemid=71
The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Water Resources & Environment Subcommittee heard testimony evaluating the current cleanup progress of TVA’s Kingston Ash Spill and assessing future environmental goals.
http://transportation.house.gov/News/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1077
As Anniversary of 2008 Coal Ash Spill Disaster Looms, New Data Reported to EPA Shows High Levels of 10 Toxic Pollutants; Makes Strong Case for EPA Action on Coal Ash Ponds, Raises Concerns About TVA's Other Kingston-Like Coal Ash Ponds in TN, KY and AL
Communities Have Right to Know About Toxic Coal Ash Impoundments
http://www.earthjustice.org/news/press/2009/communities-have-right-to-know-about-toxic-coal-ash-impoundments.html
Delano Williams expresses concerns about the long term health impacts of living near the world’s largest coal fly ash disaster.
KOLD News 13 looks at the potential dangers of coal ash ponds near homes in Southern Arizona
Groups fight TVA plan to discharge water from Kingston Power plant into Clinch River.
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20091113/NEWS01/911130349/2066/NEWS03
McClatchy Newspapers reports that coal ash dumped in the Dominican Republic from a Virginia-based power company has caused severe illness and birth defects in the local population.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/78461.html
Artur Davis, Congressman for Alabama’s 7th District, asks the EPA to determine whether the millions of tons of coal ash being buried in a Perry County landfill are bad for the health of residents.
http://arturdavis.house.gov/index.cfm?p=InNews&ContentRecord_id=3fc79f5b-135b-4a76-89d3-42da9206b748
Reporter Leslie Stahl interviews EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, who commits to federal regulations of coal ash by the end of 2009
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/01/60minutes/main5356202.shtml
The money will be spent on projects that do not directly relate to the spill, but local officials hope the work will help offset the international news coverage that made Roane County synonymous with acres of toxic sludge.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/15/us/15ash.html
Scientists at Duke University find that the sludge from TVA’s coal ash spill can dry into dust containing dangerous levels of arsenic, mercury and radium.
http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2009/08/21/Study-Dried-coal-ash-from-spill-dangerous/UPI-40051250832637/
TVA’s inspector general says the Tennessee Valley Authority intentionally and improperly steered an outside investigation into the cause of the Kingston spill.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9HFxniCllo
Residents of an impoverished Alabama county say the EPA’s decision to dump toxic coal ash in a Perry County landfill amounts to environmental racism.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111547362
TVA has raised its estimate for cleaning up the Kingston spill to $1.2 billion and partly blamed the cleanup for its third-quarter loss of $167 million.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/us/02tennessee.html
Subcommittee in the US House of Representatives holds a hearing on cleanup efforts and analyses of the root causes of the TVA coal ash collapse.
http://transportation.house.gov/hearings/hearingDetail.aspx?NewsID=948
TVA releases the “Root Cause Analysis Summaries,” offering engineering data about why the spill occurred.
http://www.tva.gov/kingston/rca/index.htm
Newsweek Magazine ranks the Kingston spill among the world’s worst man-man environmental disasters.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/207792
Consultants hired following the Kingston spill found widespread problems with how TVA was running and maintaining their coal ash storage operations. They found that the “necessary systems, controls and culture were not in place” to properly manage the coal ash operations at TVA’s 11 coal-fired power plants.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32050576/ns/us_news-environment/wid/22224893/
The Federal Government’s decision to let TVA bury tons of coal ash at a landfill in a poor Alabama county draws criticism.
http://www.ajc.com/eveningedge/content/printedition/2009/07/08/tva0708.html
Government approves TVA’s plan to dispose of millions of tons of coal ash in one of Alabama’s poorest counties.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8588737
Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., calls on the Obama administration to identify 44 “high-hazard” coal-ash impoundments that EPA is looking at as part of a broad investigation of these facilities.
http://blogs.wvgazette.com/coaltattoo/2009/06/12/boxer-wants-coal-ash-sites-identified-for-public/
President Obama is keeping the locations of coal ash sites secret. Storage ponds pose ‘potential hazards’ to nearby communities according to the EPA.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31327223/wid/11915829
TVA plans to dispose of most of the coal ash that spilled from its Kingston Fossil Power Plant in a west central Alabama landfill, pending approval of federal regulators.
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2009/jun/06/tva-ship-spilled-coal-ash/
Couple describes ash spill destruction and settlement process.
http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=10426003&nav=menu7_2_4
Roane County officials are waiting on TVA to finalize a $2 million request for a major image boosting campaign.
http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=10416328&nav=0RYv
Selenium Found in Fish Exposed to TVA Fly Ash Spill.
http://www.newsinferno.com/archives/6229
EPA to oversee coal ash cleanup.
http://timesfreepress.com/news/2009/may/11/epa-oversee-tva-coal-ash-cleanup/?breakingnews
Tennessee ash spill cleanup estimate increases to $975 million.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8485537
Lawsuits pile up after TVA spill.
http://www.wsmv.com/news/19233394/detail.html
TVA asks federal court to dismiss all lawsuits stemming from the Kingston spill.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=7365609
The Tennessee Valley Authority has spent more than $20 million buying up 71 properties tainted by a major coal-ash spill and is negotiating to buy more. But the public utility has also turned down 160 property owners hoping to sell out.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/us/12spill.html
TVA will use an independent university research group to guide health monitoring of residents and verify cleanup of contaminated areas from the Kingston spill.
http://www.thestreet.com/story/10480666/1/tva-planning-ash-spill-health-monitoring-research.html
U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure holds oversight hearing on TVA spill.
The judge dismisses all charges brought by TVA against the United Mountain Defense volunteer Matt Landon, who was arrested on March 5, 2009 for alleged trespass while giving a local resident a ride home. The judge ignores arguments from TVA that Matt’s bond should be revoked and that he be put in jail immediately,
TVA begins dredging operations to remove ash from the navigation channel of the Emory River. Independent scientists observed a ten-fold increase in turbidity measurements on the first day of dredging, even though major dredging equipment had not yet been employed. There is concern that dredging will cause the ash to be suspended in the river and that contaminant levels, particularly selenium, arsenic and mercury will increase.
Fourteen people are cited during a peaceful protest at TVA’s annual meeting in Knoxville, TN. Activists targeted TVA, the largest purchaser of coal in North America, and staged a “die-in” to call attention to the destruction wrought by coal, from cradle to grave.
A pipeline from a paper mill in Luke, Maryland breaks, releasing 4,000 gallons of coal ash onto West Virginia shoreline and into the North Branch Potomac River.
Dr. Gregory Button and Earthjustice, joined by six groups including the Tennessee Clean Water Network, and numerous scientists and citizens, petitioned the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to conduct a Public Health Assessment to evaluate the short- and long-term health effects of the disaster.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announces it will propose regulations governing the toxic waste generated by coal-fired power plants by the end of 2009
United Mountain Defense volunteer Matt Landon is arrested by TVA police for driving local resident, 65-year old Eva Hewitt back to her home. Hewitt, who is blind in one eye and cannot drive, was attending a community meeting. Upon reaching Hewitt’s house, TVA police officers pulled up behind them and searched and then arrested Landon, telling him that he needed to have a local resident in his vehicle with him to drive on that road (which he did). Landon was charged with trespass by motor vehicle and violation of restricted access. Landon spent two days in county jail until he was able to post a $3,000 bond. "I feel that arresting me today is just a continuation of the ongoing harassment I have experienced from the TVA police. TVA has tried to prevent United Mountain Defense from conducting independent water testing, deploying independent air monitoring, delivering bottled water to locals and working with the community of Roane County and they have consistently harassed me while doing this work," Landon said.
In a public meeting held on March 5, 2009, the TN Dept of Health erroneously told residents that "ingestion of ash should not pose a hazard," despite the high arsenic content of the ash. The Department of Health also erroneously informed residents that "inhalation of the coal ash dust would have the same health affects (sic) as breathing other types of dust," despite the significant percentage of fine particulates (particles smaller than 2.5 microns) comprising the ash.
http://www.tennessee.gov/environment/kingston/pdf/comm_guid/030509RoaneCoMtgHealth.pdf
Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Thomas Carper (D-DE) introduce Senate Resolution 64 calling upon the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to finally regulate coal ash waste disposal and storage. The resolution requests the "earliest date possible" for regulations.
Texas State Representative Eddie Rodriguez proposes legislation (House Bill 1450) to ensure the safe disposal and reuse of coal combustion waste.
Volunteers for United Mountain Defense attempting to set up air monitoring equipment on private property with permission of the property landowners are harassed by Roane County Sherriff’s office and threatened by TVA police.
Spearheaded by Environmental Integrity Project and Earthjustice, the presidents of over 100 environmental groups including the Sierra Club, National Wildlife Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council and Public Citizen, send a letter to EPA Administrator Jackson calling for the regulation of coal ash disposal and the phase-out of wet ponds. (Photo of coal ash impoundment in Pennsylvania
TVA submits the Corrective Action Plan mandated by the January 12th TDEC Commissioner’s Order.
Attorneys working with environmental activist Erin Brokovich filed a class action lawsuit against TVA on behalf of over 100 residents in areas affected by the Kingston coal ash spill.
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