(link...)
AECOM was hired to perform a root cause analysis of the spill, which sent hundreds of millions of gallons of coal fly ash sliding into nearby neighborhoods.

Bill Walton, a senior principal engineer and vice president for AECOM, will announce the findings in Knoxville at 10 a.m. Thursday.

Walton is set to give a slide presentation and to answer questions.

You'll be able to watch the announcement live at 10 a.m. on wbir.com, and the results will be posted on wbir.com as soon as they're available.

"The Kingston / TVA Coal Ash Spill: Historical Perspectives on a 21st Century Challenge,"
From the KNS …
"Lectures / Discussion
Dr. Mark Banker - "The Kingston / TVA Coal Ash Spill: Historical Perspectives on a 21st Century Challenge," 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 17, Bethel Presbyterian Church, 203 S. Kentucky St., Kingston. Free. Church hosting fellowship dinner at 6:30. Bring a dish. Info: 865-376-6340 or e-mail Mark_Banker@webbschool.org."

"No matter what the findings are — it was an embarrassment."
Although this AP report deteriorates into the TVA line at the end, it hints at things I hadn't seen before.
"(UT prof.) Tschantz (Sp?) added: 'No matter what the findings are — it was an embarrassment.'"
"University of Tennessee professor emeritus Bruce Tschantz, an expert in hydrology and dam safety engineering, is on (a) panel, which was briefed on the report a few weeks ago."
"A panel of engineering and environmental experts formed by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation is waiting to review the AECOM report."
"TVA hired engineering consultants AECOM USA Inc. to study the cause."
(link...)
... Bruce Tschantz, a University of Tennessee professor who developed the first dam safety office in the Federal Emergency Management Agency ...
Dr. Bruce A. Tschantz' Home Page
(link...)

Everybody OK?

" … it's not a contaminant cause nobody's died of it yet."
Cumberland Co. commission approves plan for spilled coal ash
Posted: June 16, 2009 06:31 AM PDT
(link...)
(Someone hasn't heard of the "Six Cities" study.)

is there hope... (link...)

Is TVA minimizing the truth again?

First, I want to openly thank the EPA On Site (or Scene) Coordinator (OSC) Leo Francendese and his team, for making significant data available on the Kingston TVA Plant fly ash release. (link...)
This past week, TVA was scheduled to release the bathymetry of Emory from before and after the May 4th "flood" event. What they did was to say that a "few feet" of sediment was deposited in the mouth of the Emory River where it empties into the Clinch. To me, a "few feet" means four plus or minus.
From the maps on the EPA OSC's site, (link...) and (link...) it appears that at the centerline of Emory's mouth, the post flood bathymetry shows the elevation of the riverbed of is about 725-730, and of the centerline of the pre spill channel is about 740. That's shallow, since the elevation of the surface is normally only about 741 feet. The pre flood bathymetry at the centerline of the river is about 700, or about 40 feet deeper that after the "Flood". That is much more than a "few" feet in my book.
Again, many thanks to EPA OSC Leo Francendese and his team for posting the maps. I won't even go into the "Gain and Loss" map where the area of the greatest ash (sorry, I mean "sediment") gain was grayed out.
Respectfully,
Charlie Smith

EPA CIC now staffing Outreach Center
(well, not right now TGIF)
(link...)
F. Public Information and Community Involvement Activities
CIC conducted CERCLA presentation for Emory River Community Action Commission Thursday June 4th. CIC available at Outreach Center 10 am – 6pm when on-site.
She will be busy…

OSC accompanied by CIC Stephanie Brown will conduct site tour for T&I WRE Chairwoman Johnson Sunday June 7th and Monday June 8th.

CIC will meet with OBED Watershed Association on Monday June 8th or Tuesday June 9th.

From the "TESTIMONY OF STAN MEIBURG
ACTING REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR, REGION 4
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON WATER RESOURCES AND THE ENVIRONMENT
March 31, 2009"
(link...)
"In the aftermath of the incident, EPA sampled the coal ash and residential soil to determine if the release posed an immediate threat to human health. Sampling results for coal ash contaminated residential soil showed arsenic, cobalt, iron, and thallium levels above the residential Superfund soil screening values. Sampling results also showed average arsenic levels in the Kingston coal ash and coal ash contaminated residential soil above the EPA Region 4 Residential Removal Action Levels (RALs). RALs are used to trigger TIME-CRITICAL REMOVAL actions while soil screening values, are used as a point of departure for EPA to take any action to investigate and/or remediate a release. In response to exceedances of RALs for ash contaminated residential soils, TVA relocated RESIDENTS TO INTERRUPT THIS SOIL EXPOSURE PATHWAY. "

Maybe it's time to remove all the bad stuff from the Emory Clinch confluence.
Before doing this, I would want to build a screen over the hazardous stuff.
I would need some way to immobilize the top of the ash under water.
Before I did that, I would drive a suction pipe to the bottom of the stuff.
I would also put out an array of short pipes with plugs in the top of the ash.
Then use whatever to immobilize the top of the ash underwater.
Then start to suck the stuff from the bottom, opening the plugs in a way to control the flow of river water down into the stuff.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~-||~~~~~~~~||~~~~~~~~||~~~~~~~||~~~~~~~~||~~~
~~~~~~~~~~\~~~||~~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~~/
~~~~~~~~~~~\~~||~~~~~~~V~~Ash~~V
~~~~~~~~~~~~\~||~~~~~~~/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~\||~<~~~<-/~Bad~Stuff

Ok, ok, the dormouse will now go back to sleep

Marked with " New! "
(link...)
…funny how the "Gain and loss" doesn't highlight the shallows at the mouth of the Emory, or at the "low dam" in the Clinch. Looks like summer's cool bottom waters from the Clinch will be flowing downstream, not up the Emory to KIF. Expect TVA to want to dredge right away.

(Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry)
(link...)
(WC's blog entry (link...) )

FAQ Technical Assistance Plan
(link...)
"…funding is provided to a qualified community group: (1) to hire a technical advisor(s) who can help … understand site cleanup issues and (2) …share … with others…"
Unfortunately, the leaflet was scanned as a photo, so it can't be searched

TVA Ash Loading Test Evaluation_052809 report is available on EPA OSC site
(link...)
also
Transmittal Cover for Regulatory Submittal - Rail Spur Construction Work Plan Signed Version
(link...)

Did you know that TVA makes a weekly report to the EPA OSC?
(link...)
HIGHLIGHTS
• The ash stilling pond dredging was initiated and approximately 3,000 cubic yards removed.
• Held a briefing on the root cause analysis for the TDEC technical team on May 21st in Nashville.
• About 18,000 cubic yards of river ash was removed from the Emory River.
• Received EPA approval on 5 minor work plans; rail spur, rail car offloading, barge area offload, ash movement east of Dike 2, and movement of yellow dredge.
• Submitted draft safety and health plan and time critical removal action memorandum to EPA.
• Work progressing on schedule on the rail spur construction. Nearly 800 feet of rail and ties have been positioned for installation.

I haven't looked on the TDEC website for information on the "root cause analysis".
I don't see the plans for the rail spur posted, but TVA has a Swan Pond Rd. lane closure notice on their website.

Almost every day new photos are added. Some days the collection gets edited down. Today they are helicopter shots of the "new and better" Swan Pond interim storm drainage (the plans are only on the TDEC website) and I don't know what pile of ash in the X lakeshore baylet.

Link

Nicely written intro to the Duke Fly Ash story
Personal and local interest
(link...)

If Kingston had ash in their water intake, what was going on at the Rockwood water intake that really is downstream?
Just curious.

Here are the URL and an HTML file or three to the TVA TDEC files
The posts are on line at:
(link...)
The TVA00000001 type numbers are page numbers. The file name is often the first page of a multi page file.
I had to make an index or table of content file in html.
To use the HTML files:
Download to someplace you will be able to find them, like your desktop.
In your browser, pulldown the "file" tab to "open"
Click on "browse". Find and double click on the name of the HTML file, or click on the file and "OK"
Click on "OK" or "OPEN" in the file open dialog box.
any problems call four one five nine 0 two nine six, six six
If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer 7, it will open a new window with the index, but the TVA .pdf files may be displayed in the original window. If this bothers you, try downloading IE8.
I got lazy and put the last two data releases 2009 Apr 10 and 2009 Apr 16 in separate HTML files.
There are some files on the TDEC site that aren't on the TVA site.
If you know exactly what you are looking for, please comment with your request.
Thanks
WC has my respect for staying on top off the fact pile on the ash pile. TVA seems to have stacked the data as carefully as they stacked the ash.
Sorry if this sounds stiff, I just got up.
Charlie

BLACK TIDE from GQ Magazine
I'd seen the community discuss bringing the gentleman from GQ to attempt to see the ash, but in all my searches, I had never seen the article…
(link...)

"Just days before Christmas last year, an environmental disaster one hundred times the size of the Exxon Valdez (yes, you read that right) unfolded on a riverbank in eastern Tennessee. A wave of poisonous sludge buried a town…along with the myth of clean coal "
By Sean Flynn; Photograph by Christopher LaMarca

I don't know how to write this.
It started with the daily check for stories about ash and Roane OR Tennessee etc.
I tripped over this article in the Huffington post.
(link...)
But, that's not the point…
It was the link for…
"...a whole array of new studies suggests that U.S. coal reserves could begin declining within 20 years (not quite the "300 year supply" the industry touts)."
(link...)
which should have been
(link...)
But, that's not the point…
Following the original incorrect post lead me to...
(link...)
"… Chris Nelder has a fairly accessible summary of the report; (link...)
"Oil Drum has a slightly more detailed and technical summary; (link...)
"but the best place to get a perspective on what this could mean is this piece from peak oil guru Richard Heinberg. (link...)
"I hesitate to attempt to summarize Heinberg's thoughts -- it really is worth reading the whole thing. …"
The point is some reporters have been trying since 2005 to call our attention to (In my words) "not only is there no such thing as clean coal, there is no such thing as coal for the next few hundred years (Try Twenty!)"
It struck me that God has set things up so that folk who embrace reducing fossil fuel consumption now, will be set when the coal and natural gas and oil run out…?
OK, I'm nuts.

This changed my mind on funding for hydrogen. My old view was "Do you have a hydrogen well in your back yard, NO?, neither do I." Can't vouch for the facts, but here is the link
(link...)