I was tagging along with Doug Mills (long time WBIR employee on the Heartland Series) Wednesday, and he was on a little outing to gather video clips of the Obed Wild and Scenic River Valley. Accompanying us was David McCarthy, a student in Bill Landry's Media Production Class at RSCC.

Bill has assigned each student a "place to see" in Roane and surrounding counties to help promote the area to visitors coming to the planned TDOT Trailhead that will eventually be located in the Princess Theater lobby.

The students are to make a 3-minute video promoting their chosen area to run "on loop" in this kiosk.

David wanted to promote the Obed River area, so we were off to the valleys near Wartburg. We visited the Lilly Access and Lilly Bluff Overlook, and the Nemo Access area. It was a great time on a beautiful spring-like day.

At Nemo, the Emory runs under both bridges (old and new) after combining with Clear Creek and the Obed just upstream. Below the dam, the Nemo Rapids force a 90 degree turn and then back again south before flowing on to Oakdale and Harriman.

Check out my blog post by CLICKING HERE!

Check out other photos of the are HERE!

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

Video and pictures of the Emory and Clinch rivers after the massive rain event on Monday, May 4 (link...)

Hi Everyone,
Here is a link to a new article from The Nation about the TVA disaster and water testing.

(link...)

April 2nd, 2009 7:52 pm
Tennessee's Dirty Data
By Kelly Hearn / Nation

The Tennessee Valley Authority manipulated science methods to downplay water contamination caused by a massive coal ash disaster, according to independent technical experts and critics of the federally funded electrical company.

The TVA is the largest public provider of electricity in the nation, providing power to 670,000 homes and burning through some 14,000 tons of coal per day. On December 22 the authority made headlines when one of its retention ponds collapsed, letting loose an avalanche of coal ash--the toxic residue left over when coal is burned. More than 5 million cubic yards of ashy mud pushed its way through a neighborhood and into Tennessee's Emory River, knocked houses off foundations and blanketed river water with plumes of gray scum that flowed downstream.

New evidence indicates that in the wake of the disaster, the TVA may have intentionally collected water samples from clean spots in the Emory River, a major supplier of drinking water for nearby cities and a popular site for recreational activities such as swimming and fishing. Third-party tests have found high levels of toxins in the river water and in private wells, while the TVA has assured residents that tap water, well water and river water are safe.

Contrary Data

(Read full article)
(link...)

TVA's toxicity tests fall short
UTILITY'S METHODS OF ANALYZING ASH ARE TOO BROAD, CRITICS SAY
By Anne Paine • THE TENNESSEAN • January 19, 2009

The method TVA and others are using to test and analyze the toxicity of the coal ash splayed through a neighborhood, fields and streams beside TVA's Kingston power plant can't adequately determine the potential risk, experts say.

Link to the full article.