Tennessee coal plant disaster lacks national coverage

I watched Jon Stewart a few days ago hang his head in disgust as he dissected the amount of coverage given to President-elect Barack Obama’s children as they started their new school in Washington, D.C.

Stewart conveyed so well thoughts many of us have been having: why do we care what kind of food is on the lunch menu for Sasha and Malia, and is it really necessary for Americans to know the type of backpack they like to carry?

I could go on about the direction major networks are taking, and how “news” nowadays seems to be completely celebrity-oriented—but instead, I wonder how many of you heard about the coal ash spill that happened in Tennessee over the holiday break.

It has been surprising to see (or not see) the lack of national media coverage surrounding what has been compared to the Exxon Valdese oil spill, but I guess all the reporters were too busy reporting on more “important” things.

For those of you who have not heard about the coal plant disaster, it occurred Dec. 22 at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant.

The plant is about 40 miles west of Knoxville, located on Watts Bar Reservoir on the Tennessee River near Kingston.

When a retention wall gave way, an estimated 1 billion gallons of sludge was sent downhill across 300 acres and into tributaries of the Tennessee River.

The TVA said while all the residents of the area were evacuated safely, 15 homes were damaged and three were called uninhabitable.

The sludge, a byproduct of ash from coal combustion, is said to contain heavy metals, which can have an adverse effect on people’s health.

Boone’s very own environmental advocacy group Appalachian Voices recently released test results conducted using Environmental Protection Agency standards, proving levels of arsenic, lead and chromium were present in the river water.

Results revealed water about two miles downstream from the spill site was contaminated with arsenic at a level 35 times the drinking water limit. Fish are also a concern, as heavy metals can be extremely detrimental to aquatic life over time.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., chairman of the national Waterkeeper Alliance said in a statement, “Although these results are preliminary, we want to release them because of the public health concern and because we believe the TVA and the EPA aren’t being candid.”

The TVA has responded to health concerns brought forth by individuals and said a person has to be exposed to the ash dust for a considerable amount of time in order for problems to arise.

TVA’s Web site said Sunday more than 1,200 mobile air-monitoring samples were collected, and the results were all within air quality standards.

Yet cleaning up the mess will be an extensive project, with local, state and federal agencies working to clear the area. It was estimated it would take four to six weeks to clean up at first, but the exact time needed is not known.

This mess might receive the national coverage it deserves as this spill raises questions over the concept of “clean coal” and what should be done with waste, but in the meantime, I encourage everyone to do some research on their own and to not ignore this disaster.

The Appalachian Voices Front Porch blog has the full story of the group’s experience taking water samples after the spill, and can be accessed via their Web site, appvoices.org.

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