I was in dust constantly for 10 to 12 hours a day. Some of the survivors walked with canes. The combination of toxins may also be more dangerous than any single one alone, according to Levy. [19][20] After an aerial survey, the official estimate was more than tripled to 5.4 million cubic yards (4 millionm) on December 25, 2008. [10], Leaks at the Kingston ash ponds had reportedly been taking place since the early 1980s, and local residents said that the spill was not a unique occurrence. [66], During the first phase of the cleanup, known as the time-critical phase, over 3.5 million cubic yards were removed within a year of the spill. [34][35], Engineering firm AECOM was hired by TVA to investigate the cause of the spill. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. The EPA established the first federal rule on the disposal of coal ash in 2015 after a review of coal ash disposal . The breech. [62], The EPA first estimated that the spill would take four to six weeks to clean up; however, Chandra Taylor, the staff attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center, said the cleanup could take months and possibly years. Residents and environmental groups expressed concern that the fly ash slurry could become more dangerous once it dried out. On Dec. 22, a dike at the TVA's Kingston Fossil Plant collapsed, spilling 1.1 billion gallons of wet coal ash. [36] The Kingston Fossil Plant received a total of 6.48 inches (16.46cm) of rain between December 1 and December 22, plus 1.16 inches (2.95cm) on November 29 and 30. "It's a cocktail of arsenic, copper, lead, selenium, thallium, antimony, and other metals at higher levels than in their natural state. I came home and took care of my babies. [2] In April 2020, 52 workers rejected a $10 million settlement offered by Jacobs Engineering. EPA asked to rein in toxic coal ash nationwide : NPR I dont have any idea how long the process will take, says Scott, but I can tell you we will be pursuing it rapidly and aggressively. During the trial, several epidemiologists testified to the health impacts of the constituents of coal ash. I used to come home with the ash on meon my clothes, in my hair, my ears, up my nose, my throat, on my boots, everywhere, says McCarthy. EarthTalk is now a book! [19][21], The spill covered surrounding land with up to six feet (1.8 m) of sludge. She went home to find out. And the McCarthys are not alone. It was after midnight with frigid temperatures dipping to 12 degrees when the wall collapsed on the massive ponds where TVA stored the leftover ash from burning decades of coal. The spill affecting the McCarthys occurred after an unlined containment pond failed at the Tennessee Valley Authoritys (TVA) Kingston coal plant, creating the nations biggest coal ash spill. Coal ash is the toxic byproduct left after coal is burned at power plants and the spill released large amounts of arsenic, lead, mercury and other contaminants into the area's natural resources, including the Clinch and Emory Rivers, which are tributaries to the Tennessee River. They gave him medicine, and he went back to work. Norris says he thought about quitting, but he had a wife and three kids to support. "[29] Nevertheless, due to pressure exerted in 2000 by utilities, the coal industry, and Clinton administration officials, fly ash is not strictly regulated as a hazardous waste by the EPA. Why birds are building fortresses from anti-bird spikes, How shark meat became a global phenomenon. Menopause is rare among animals. Most of those dumps lie near lakes or rivers or above freshwater aquifers that supply drinking water to nearby communities. All rights reserved. His doctors say it was likely caused by radiation from the ash. In September, Hurricane Florence caused about 1,000 tons, or about 150 truckloads, to spill from a Duke Energy site in North Carolina, contaminating a lake and the Cape Fear River. Now, the spill has transformed part of this already . And they told us it wouldn't hurt us. McCarthys home was not one of them, but he was part of the crew handling the cleanup, an effort that lasted years. According to a report from Physicians for Social Responsibility, coal ash toxins have the potential to injure all of the major organ systems. In addition to needing her gallbladder removed, Tina, who ended up delivering Jimmy prematurely, has suffered various ailments over the years. The sludge gushed out like a tidal wave, destroying three homes. Kingston coal ash spill worker Mike McCarthy and his son Jimmy at the U.S. District Court in Knoxville, But McCarthy worries more about his kids. Last year Hurricane Florence flooded two other Duke ash ponds in eastern North Carolina, resulting in smaller releases. Doug Bledsoe is one: He was recently diagnosed with brain and lung cancer, shortly after his wife battled breast cancer. As coal ash lawsuit drags on after 10 years, dozens of exposed workers have died. "I know of no [PR] campaign," he says. Such disasters are thankfully rare, but researchers say the greater issue is the sheer ubiquity of coal ash around the nation. There are more than 20 toxins in Kingston's coal ash. EPA Rejects Civil Rights Complaint Over Alabama Coal Ash Dump But some of those small gains were rolled back earlier this year by the Trump administration. Thanks for signing up. The spill released a slurry of fly ash and water, which traveled across the Emory River and its Swan Pond embayment, onto the opposite shore, covering up to 300 acres (1.2km2) of the surrounding land. That you can eat it and drink it and it wont hurt you, says McCarthy before entering into a fit of coughing, one of several such interruptions during our short telephone call. 'Jaw-dropping' fossil reveals dinosaur vs. mammal battle, The unlikely survival of early monkeys, swept across the Atlantic, A hike through history in Pembrokeshire's Preseli Hills, Winchester, UK: Hampshire history & South Downs hikes, Standing Stone Circles of Northwest Arabia, 3 ways to hike Europe's Camino de Santiago, How to embrace slow travel in the Yorkshire Dales, March of the penguins in Australia's Phillip Island. Three months after the spill, McCarthys wife, Tina, became pregnant with their son, Jimmy. The waste can be like dust, and a person exposed to it can inhale or ingest the ash, bringing the cocktail of elements into their body from their lungs to their bloodstream. Coal Ash May Pose Health Hazard : NPR According to John Moulton, a spokesman for the Tennessee Valley Authority which owns the plant, a test of river water near the spill site found elevated levels of lead and thallium, both of. "It was a PR thing," says Satterfield. "I wanted to get my kids through school. Jacobs Solutions settles with Kingston coal ash cleanup workers Coal ash is a broad term for coal waste, and there are multiple subcategories. Flipboard January 12, 20229:43 AM ET From By James Bruggers , Amy Green Enlarge this image The cooling towers at the Stanton Energy Center, a coal-fired power plant, are seen behind a home in. Most goes into concrete and cement, but ash has also been used in roadbeds, as fill under housing developments and golf courses, even for snow control or as fertilizer on agricultural land. [9] The spill consisted of an initial large wave which lasted for approximately one minute, followed by a series of smaller consecutive waves of breaking away and sliding that occurred over a period of approximately one hour. His blood pressure spiked, and he got burning sores on his skin. Tennessee Supreme Court hears arguments over Kingston coal ash This page is not available in other languages. Until all the ash ponds and landfills are cleaned upand we stop burning coalthe risk to U.S. drinking water supplies remains. A federal jury in Knoxville ruled in early November that Jacobs Engineering had endangered the health of its workers. About 4 million tons of ash from the massive Kingston coal ash spill in 2008, shown here, was taken to the Arrowhead landfill near Uniontown. Page. adverse health impacts caused by the coal ash spill. Tennessee Valley Authority is dumping coal ash on Black south Memphis View history. [65] In January 2017, the EPA announced that the ecosystems impacted by the spill had returned to conditions prior to the spill. In October, a coalition of environmental groups, including Earthjustice and the Sierra Club, challenged the weakening of the Coal Ash Rule in a petition to the U.S. Court of Appeals, saying the move was a direct threat to public health and safety. The EPA claims it could save $28 million to $31 million in annual regulatory expenses, but it is failing to consider the price tags of such a rollback: The costly cleanups. Even before 1 billion gallons of coal ash sludge fouled the Emory River in late December, the waters around Kingston, Tenn., were under stress. Every few minutes he's racked by a harsh barking cough. Cheetahs have come back to India. The protections were the result of more than a decade of litigation by Earthjustice, on behalf of our clients and alongside our partners.. Earthjustice fights in the courts for a long-term solution to this toxic menace. Photograph by Maddie McGarvey, National Geographic, Photographs by Maddie McGarvey, National Geographic. [54] That year, TVA committed to switching all of the ash storage facilities at their coal fired plants over to dry byproduct methods, which would reduce the chances of another spill. Calling it an environmental disaster of epic proportions, Carol Kimmons, a local resident who works at the non-profit Sequatchie Valley Institute, told reporters that the nasty black ash flowed into the water supply for Chattanooga and millions of people living downstream in Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky. She added that the spill was 70 percent bigger than a similar one in Kentucky in October 2000 (306 million gallons) that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) referred to at the time as one of the worst environmental disasters in the Southeastern United States., More than a year after that Kentucky spill, researchers found levels of lead downstream from where the spill took place that were 400 times higher than the EPAs safe limit. Youll receive your first NRDC action alert and update email soon! The plant, originally known as the Kingston Steam Plant, began operations in 1954, primarily to provide electricity to atomic energy installations at nearby Oak Ridge. Attached to fine particles of ash they can drift through the air, blowing onto skin and into nostrils. People think coal ash is not going to be a problem because utilities are switching to natural gas and it's cleaner. A report released in June 2009 identified the main cause of the spill as the result of slippage of an unstable layer of fine wet coal ash underneath the pond. Is there a coal ash pond near you? Check this map. | CNN Final rule. Cheryl Johnson and Peggy Salazar have been speaking out against pollution and environmental injustice for decades, but the city of Chicago sees their South Side neighborhoods as sacrifice zones. A scathing independent report concludes that the massive coal ash spill which devastated a Tennessee town was no accident -- it was negligence. Another, much bigger Duke Energy spill of nearly 40,000 tons sullied the Dan River in 2014. The groups contend that coal ash has already polluted 23 states and that the proposed new rule would only allow more pollution and more risks to human health and the environment. After the Kingston spill, environmental groups advocated regulating coal ash as hazardous waste. [35] In response to a video that showed dead fish on the Clinch River, which had received runoff from the spill, TVA spokesman Gil Francis Jr. stated "in terms of toxicity, until an analysis comes in, you can't call it toxic."

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