Coal ash cleanup may end in spring

More than 430 TVA employees and contractors are working around the clock to fill and ship more than 85 rail cars a day of sludgy coal ash from the Kingston Fossil Plant spill, TVA officials said Monday.

Mike Scott, cleanup project coordinator, told the Chattanooga Engineers Club that three hydraulic dredging units are digging up more than 13,000 cubic yards of ash a day from the Emory River.

Environmental tests so far show no additional damage to the air or water around the plant, Mr. Scott said, and by next spring, all the ash should be out of the river.

"People are starting to listen to the science," Mr. Scott told the engineers. "We're taking water samples every day, and they continue to show safe levels in the water."

On Dec. 22, about 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash spilled from a ruptured storage pond, covering nearly 300 acres around the plant and flowing into the Emory River. The ash contains elevated levels of such toxic chemicals as arsenic, lead, mercury and selenium.

The coal ash dredged from the river bottom is being shipped by rail to a lined landfill in Perry County, Ala.

Also Monday, a member of two of the independent review groups praised TVA's efforts but denounced agency officials for not doing more to communicate with and support the Kingston community after the spill.

Randy Ellis, a member of the Roane County Long Term Recovery Committee and an EPA community advisory board member, said local groups haven't been able to meet with TVA President Tom Kilgore to discuss their concerns.

"Almost everybody involved thinks TVA is doing a good job of getting the ash out of the river," he said. "But while the cleanup is going well, the way TVA has dealt with the community has been a disaster."

Many residents remain concerned about health effects from the ash spill, Mr. Ellis said.

Roane County Mayor Mike Farmer has asked Mr. Kilgore to attend the Long Term Recovery Committee meeting Wednesday.

TVA is spending up to $1.2 billion on the cleanup, including more than $40 million to buy 148 properties and $43 million to help Kingston and Roane County adjust to the disaster.

Mr. Kilgore said TVA ratepayers will pay for the cleanup.

"Fortunately, TVA has pretty good rates in the bottom third of all utilities, and I think we can manage this and not have our rates get out of hand," Mr. Kilgore said last week.