Time for TVA, state regulators to step up.
George Walker IV / The Tennessean In light of the Environmental Protection Agency’s recent, unfounded decision to put the brakes on requiring coal plants to limit toxic water pollution in our rivers and streams nationwide, Middle Tennesseans should demand that the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority make good on its own promise to protect our clean water.
Eight years ago, the TVA Board acknowledged that the catastrophic coal ash spill it had caused at the Kingston coal plant “has eroded public trust in TVA and called into question TVA’s commitment to environmental stewardship.” In response, the TVA Board promised to switch to dry handling of its coal ash waste at all of its coal plants.
This move threatens to have an outsized effect on Tennessee, home to the biggest mercury-polluting plant in the country.
The Cumberland Fossil Plant, which in 2015 dumped 120 pounds of mercury into the Cumberland River, is one of several Tennessee Valley Authority coal-fired power plants polluting our rivers just upstream from our drinking water sources across the state.
Prior to Pruitt’s decision, TVA had asked our state environmental agency, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, for nearly the maximum extension allowable by the rule at several sites.
But our state regulator, TDEC, can help ensure that TVA keeps its promise.
Pruitt has suggested that states are well-suited to regulate water pollution within their borders.
Regardless of the rule Pruitt has sought to halt, the Clean Water Act has long required TDEC to set specific limits on TVA’s toxic waste water pollution at each coal plant.
Let’s take this opportunity to tell the TVA and TDEC we’ve waited long enough for clean water in Tennessee.