Kingston Ash Clean Up Trades Water Quality for Speed

TVA’s coal ash clean up in Kingston is sacrificing water quality for speed.

It’s been six months since a failed holding pond released 5.4 million cubic yards of fly ash. Most slid into the Clinch and Emory rivers. TVA has already sped river dredging from removal of 1,000 to 4,000 cubic yards a day. Environmental officials are pushing for 15,000 yards.

TVA spokeswoman Barbara Martocci says the faster tempo does increase the amount of ash that flows down stream. But, she says, major thunderstorms pose a bigger threat.

“This way we can get more of the ash out more quickly in hope that we can get a lot out before we have another very, very large flow of water like we did back in May.”

A five-year rain event May 4th increased river flow by more than 100 times, pushing ash out into the Tennessee River. Municipal water officials feared ash might reach water intakes for nearby towns.

TVA has four dredging machines operating currently and plans to add more in the coming weeks.

Dredge operators are piling the ash at a nearby little league baseball field owned by the utility. The Environmental Protection Agency has not yet approved plans to transport ash by train to a landfill in Perry County, Alabama. It’s been investigating environmental justice concerns.

Perry County is one of the poorest in Alabama, and Leo Francendese of the EPA says he thought the surrounding community would oppose the ash shipments.

“We might have expected it, but it’s turning out to be quite the opposite, that they want this ash.”

Despite the concern of some residents, county officials see the ash as an economic opportunity, creating roughly 50 jobs.

Francendese says the EPA will likely make a decision this week.