TVA Makes The Wrong Choice

TCWN Condemns TVA Decision to Appeal Gallatin Decision

Oct. 2, 2017 - Tennessee Clean Water Network Executive Director Renee Hoyos today said it was a waste of time and resources for TVA to appeal a decision by a Nashville federal judge requiring the agency to move the coal ash at the Gallatin Fossil Plant on the Cumberland River.

"TCWN is disappointed TVA has chosen to delay addressing the health hazards of the coal ash at the Gallatin plant by appealing the decision," said TCWN Water Policy Director Dana Wright.

"The coal ash spill at TVA's Kingston Plant has shown that coal ash is full of toxic materials that threaten human and aquatic health. As the judge in the Gallatin case ordered, TVA needs to take immediate action to protect Tennesseans and to protect the drinking water supplies around the Gallatin plant."

"TVA should comply with the judge's decision and not waste time by appealing the case," Wright added.

On August 4, 2017, U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw ordered TVA to dig up the coal ash from unlined storage pits at the Gallatin facility and place the toxic coal ash in a lined disposal facility.

In his ruling, Judge Crenshaw said that there are environmental and health consequences of long-term storage of coal ash in unlined pits and that TVA needs to, “not to cover over those decades-old mistakes, but to pull them up by their roots. TVA, as the entity responsible for the ponds, must be the entity to do so.”

The federal judge ordered TVA to move the coal ash to an area that “does not pose a substantial risk of discharges into the waters of the United States.”

TCWN’s Staff Attorney Shelby Ward was co-counsel on the case with the Southern Environmental Law Center. The case was bought on behalf of TCWN and the Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association.

The court's Aug. 4 decision is available here.

#TVA #Gallatin #Coalash #Ward