After Tennessee ash spill, cleanup and worry
Residents are concerned about the long-term health effects of last week's coal ash spill, one of the worst in U.S. history. Relations with a Depression-era federal utility are damaged, too.
Reporting from Roane County, Tenn. — The gunk on the water had thinned to a gray scrim in front of Mike Thomas' riverfront home -- a small sign of progress one week after one of the worst coal ash spills in American history.
But as Thomas drove along the bluff over the Emory River, he pointed to big piles of sludgy, dark gray ash, a byproduct of coal combustion, that had been accidentally disgorged by the nearby electricity plant. The heaps jutted from the water's surface like ugly volcanic islands. By the shore, many neighbors' docks sat in ruins, destroyed by mammoth waves when the ash was released.
This wasn't what Thomas had in mind when he bought his retirement home nine years ago.
"It's like something you'd see in Cleveland or damned Newark, New Jersey," said Thomas, a 62-year-old Georgia native. "Not east Tennessee."
This week, hundreds of workers continued a massive cleanup around the Kingston Fossil Plant, a Tennessee Valley Authority facility that has been a mundane and welcome fixture here for the last half a century, until -- late at night and three days before Christmas -- it became a force of ruination. Earthen walls surrounding one of the plant's retention areas failed, sending more than a billion gallons of the ash -- enough to fill 1,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools -- coursing into surrounding waterways and a handful of private properties.
No one was harmed, but residents are worried about the long-term health effects from the ash, which contains potentially harmful contaminants such as arsenic. They are also worried about the threats to their economy and culture, long defined by the picturesque waterways that snake through the lush Appalachian hill country.
"We're worried about the arsenic and whatever other contaminants are in the water, and we're worried about anything getting airborne," Thomas said. "On a lower level, we're worried about recreation -- hunting, boating, fishing.
"And property values," he added, gesturing to a home that serves as an appendage to an expansive deck overlooking the quiet river. "This is my legacy to my children."
State and federal officials Wednesday were awaiting results of soil testing. Preliminary air tests show no problems, although windy weather could change that. Meanwhile, some water samples taken close to the ash piles have found levels of arsenic and other pollutants that exceed drinking water standards. Officials are monitoring private wells, and say drinking water in municipal systems is safe -- for now.
- Coal ash -- a Tennessee wake-up call Jan 06, 2009
- Is Obama caving in to coal? Jun 15, 2009
- Cheap coal, dirty air Aug 31, 2007
