Consultants hired after a massive coal ash spill slammed the Tennessee Valley Authority yesterday for poor management and oversight of ash storage at its coal-fired power plants.
On December 22, an ash pond burst at the Kingston plant, spilling 5.4 million cubic yards of sludge into the Emory River and onto some private property.
The report to TVA’s board says necessary plans of action, management, and monitoring are completely lacking at the utility’s 11 coal plants.
Consultant Bill Ide says over the last three decades concerns raised within TVA and problems at other wet ash ponds were largely ignored.
“None of the red flags were heeded. TVA’s reactive patchwork approach prevented examining of causes of pre-Kingtson spills. A leak would be patched, but questions were not asked, why the leak?”
Ide says what started as a small ash pond ballooned into an unstable storage facility.
“Ultimately there was a 60 foot high, 6 football field of very serious metals in ash that was looming over the Emory River on Swan Pond Road. It didn’t happen in a day it happened over a decade.”
He advised TVA to work on top to bottom cultural changes within the utility.
CEO Tom Kilgore says the report is tough but “good medicine”, and committed to making improvements.
Clean up of the ash spill is expected to cost around a billion dollars.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM