From CommonDreams.org today:

"Up to 240 million Americans will now lose protections against dangerous smog and soot pollution, following a decision by a US appeals court on Tuesday.

This may have already been discussed on Roane Views, but I wanted to get the word out about the TN Scenic Protection Act, SB 577, a bill to prevent the coal industry from blasting off TN's Mountain ridgelines.

A last minute amendment to the bill was made a few days ago which keeps the status quo and does nothing to protect TN's mountains. The passage of the orginial bill is still possible & I hope you will read more about it and let your voice be heard if you want to see the legislation pass.

You can find out more here:

(link...)

(link...)

Thanks! Kara Foster

There is a good op-ed piece in the NY Times on the polluting effects of mountaintop removal: (link...)

-- OneTahiti

Alternet has the story, an interview with filmmaker Peter Bull of the Center for Investigative Reporting, on the subject of dirty coal: (link...)

-- OneTahiti

CREDO Action has a petition this morning:

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska is launching a potentially devastating attack on the Clean Air Act. Majority Leader Harry Reid has granted her a vote for January 20 that would block the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from coal plants and other polluters in 2010.

On December 22, 2008 the largest coal fly ash disaster in the world occurred in Roane County, Tennessee along the banks of the Emory River at the Kingston Electric Coal Plant which is owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Coal fly ash is a toxic by- product produced by burning coal to make electricity. Coal fly ash is currently unregulated in the United States. TVA has been very reluctant to take responsibility for the disaster that they created and took active steps to keep the news of the disaster out of the media.

As part of the United States federal government, TVA has been investigated by its own Office of Inspector General which has issued numerous reports detailing how badly TVA officials and employees responded to this disaster. The worst and most telling reports are yet to come. TVA had more than 40 years of internal reports showing the structural weakness of the failed coal fly ash storage pond and they chose to ignore the problems and continue to stack the coal fly ash to a height of more than 60 feet using the wet storage method.

It has been one year since the disaster. By viewing the following videos you will see that the situation has gotten worse as the trail of coal fly ash becomes more dispersed. So far the coal fly ash has floated down the Emory River, Clinch River and Tennessee River all the way to Alabama. As the ash continues its downstream march it will eventually reach the Ohio River, the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. The main points of concern with water quality right now are the elevated levels of arsenic, selenium and other heavy metals which have leached out of the coal fly ash and into the drinking water of millions of people downstream, not to mention all of the animals which live in the water or eat the fish. Kingston, TN is the nearest town whose water intakes are a mere 6 miles downstream. Chattanooga, TN is the next largest city downstream of the disaster.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has permitted the spilled coal fly ash to be shipped via railroad to Arrowhead Landfill in Uniontown, Perry County, Alabama. It has been documented that this landfill is currently pumping the landfill leachate (landfill juice) into the ditches surrounding the landfill and right next to the homes of local residents. These residents have been told that the coal fly ash is safe.

Many residents are concerned about their health. An independent air monitoring program started by Roane County residents, United Mountain Defense and the Global Community Monitor has shown that on a least one dry day in October 2009 that there existed elevated levels of arsenic and cadmium in the air surrounding the disaster site. On Feb 3, 2009 a massive dust storm more than 100 feet tall and half a mile wide was documented as it blew off the coal ash disaster site. Many residents have reported respiratory distress up to a 10 mile radius around the disaster site with symptoms that include burning eyes, nosebleeds, sinus infections, ear infections, scratchy throats, rashes, skin sensitivity to sun, nausea, vomiting, headaches, migraines, asthma and many other ailments. Many of these residents had never been sick on such a regular basis before the disaster and now have mounting health bills which they cannot pay. Yet TVA is continuously allowed to state that there is no danger from the coal fly ash and none of the workers involved in the cleanup and recovery efforts are made to wear respiratory protection.

This disaster occurred because of negligence. This disaster is not an isolated incident and as all of the coal fly ash storage sites around the world continue to age many more people will be at risk of having to deal with such a disaster in their neighborhoods. If you live near a coal burning electric power plant you may also live near a coal ash dump. Coal fly ash is NOT safe! This is a disaster that the world needs to learn about and we intend to help spread the word about it, will you help us spread the word?

For more info check out the following websites
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dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com
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Thank you for your time, matt landon Appalachian Organizer for United Mountain Defense
umdvolunteerhouse@yahoo.com
865-689-2778

Here is a video that a Roane County family produced about living next to the TVA Coal Ash Disaster. TVA refuses to evacuate them.

(link...)
Here is a video made by a resident of Roane County, Delano Williams who lives about 1 mile from the TVA Coal Ash Disaster.

(link...)
This dust storm was documented on Feb 3, 2009, the day that Matt Landon got back from the training for the citizen's air monitoring program.

(link...)

Perry County, Alabama Uniontown Citizens speak out about Arrowhead Landfill where TVA coal fly ash is being shipped and dumped by rail. It has been discovered that the landfill is also dumping the leachate (landfill juice) into the ditches surrounding the landfill and right next to the homes in this video.

(link...)
Marion, AL coal ash landfill leachate issue. Arrowhead Landfill is dumping tanker truckload after tanker truckload of landfill juice into a waste water treatment pond which can’t handle the increased load
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Proposed dump for TVA coal fly ash on a coal mine valley fill in Cumberland County, Tennessee

(link...)

Data from the citizen’s air monitoring program started by Roane County residents, United Mountain Defense and the Global Community Monitor

(link...) 2nd round Raw data
(link...) 2nd round Air Data Page 1
(link...) 2nd round Air Data Spreadsheet
(link...) Expert interpretation of air data

The following are a few words from our air analyst about what these latest air samples mean.
Attached is my interpretation of metal levels in the two air samples collected near the TVA coal ash spill on October 19th and 20th. I added the interpretation to the spreadsheet containing the interpretation of metal levels in the two previously collected air samples (15 July 2009 and 1 October 2009). Rows 4 and 5 contain the new data.

Of note is a ‘hot’ sample (the one collected on 20 October 2009) with a cadmium level that exceeds the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment’s Chronic Reference Level for cadmium. This sample also has an arsenic level that is above the World Health Organization’s guideline value of 0.66 nanograms per cubic meter to prevent a one per one million increased risk of cancer as a result of lifetime exposure.

If you average the concentrations in all four samples (assigning a ‘0’ value to non-detects), then the average cadmium level is below (60% of) the California OHEAA’s Chronic REL for cadmium, but the average arsenic level is above the WHO guideline value of 0.66 nanograms per cubic meter to prevent a one per one million increased risk of cancer as a result of lifetime exposure.

I urge caution in how you publicize these results for two reasons. 1) The cadmium levels in the air samples are less than 3 times their uncertainty levels; 2) the arsenic levels in the air samples are less than 2 times their uncertainty levels.

Find PSR's report here: Coal's Assault on Human Health.

In a nutshell, coal really is just as bad as we thought, maybe worse.

Update: I just noticed that Matt Landon has already posted about this. Way to go, Matt! :)

-- OneTahiti

"The Senate is about to vote on a bill that would allow more pollution from dirty coal plants like Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston plant in Harriman."

A New York Times editorial today highlights the problem of "ground level pollutants" such as mercury caused by coal-fired power generation facilities: (link...)

Reuters has the story: (link...)

-- OneTahiti

Tennessee's number three ranking (link) is from the Pew Charitable Trusts, a conservative charity founded by Sun Oil heirs (link). The ranking was based on "clean energy economy" jobs, including some "energy generation" jobs in coal (link).

Choking on ash by Anderson Cooper from CNN

The story: (link...)

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...)

Dozens arrested after Duke protest
By Bruce Henderson
bhenderson@charlotteobserver.com
Posted: Monday, Apr. 20, 2009

Police arrested more than 40 protesters today at Duke Energy's Charlotte headquarters following a rally and march against Duke's coal policies.

There was a question last night at the Long Term Recovery Meeting... About the Duke University Test Results on Water and Ash at the TVA Disaster site: Well... here is you answer...

and the link.....

A report by Duke University scientists who analyzed water and ash samples from last month’s coal sludge spill in eastern Tennessee concludes that “exposure to radium- and arsenic-containing particulates in the ash could have severe health implications” in the affected areas.

"Duke research scientist Gary Dwyer analyzed the water samples for trace metal content using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Following preliminary analysis, the solid ash samples were incubated and underwent more detailed analysis of their radioactive content using gamma spectrometry.

The Duke researchers received no funding from the group or any other external party. All funding was provided by the [Duke University] Nicholas School, Vengosh said, “to maintain total impartiality in our analysis.”

here's the DUKE UNIVERSITY Link:
(link...)

Roane County was once home to a famous systems engineer, the late Bill McCumber, Fellow of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE). What would the good professor say about the situation were he here today?

I've heard at least 2 people who live out my way (south of Rockwood in Roane County) say that they are looking at Spring City merchants down in Rhea County for their grocery and shopping needs rather than brave the ash dust issues by driving up to Midtown or Harriman.

Has anyone else seen any of this trend? If this continues it does not bode well for Roane County merchants and sales tax coffers.