Governor Phil Bredesen today toured the enormous spill of ash from TVA’s Kingston Coal Plant. He called the dike breach a “massive disaster” which threatens air quality as well as drinking water for communities that draw from the Tennessee River.
Bredesen says the cleanup effort will be paid for entirely by TVA, but emphasized that the state has regulatory authority over the federal agency’s impact on the environment.
“We’re not an arm of TVA; we’re going to exercise the state’s authority and we’re asking the federal government to participate with us to make sure that everything is done right. TVA has certainly committed to me that they’re going to do what it takes to both return people’s lives to normal and to reclaim the property and keep it safe, and we’re gonna be looking over their shoulder as they do that.”
Bredesen says he suspects the state has been overly deferential to TVA in the past. He says it’s time for a thorough review of Tennessee’s environmental regulations with a mind towards taking a tougher stance towards the federal utility. He says that’s especially important given that TVA operates six other coal-fired plants in the state, each with some sort of ash retention system.
The state is monitoring water at the two closest intake valves on a daily basis, and soon should begin posting the results online. The Department of Environment and Conservation is also setting up air quality monitors in the area, and has collected samples of the ash itself to determine how much of a danger it is.
WEB EXTRA: View WPLN’s photo gallery of the ash spill.
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