Staff File Photo by Patrick Smith
Remains of a coal ash spill that blanketed more than 300 acres in Harriman, Tenn., surround the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant.KNOXVILLE – Plaintiff attorneys who contend the Tennessee Valley Authority should pay damages for the Kingston Plant coal ash spill Friday cross-examined a TVA consultant who testified he was hired to find the “mechanics” of the cause, not to place blame.
Geotechnical engineer William H. Walton was on the witness stand for a second day at the federal bench trial on damage lawsuits by property owners who contend TVA negligence in training, operations and construction caused the December 2008 disaster.
Walton testified Friday that TVA hired him as AECOM USA Inc.’s chief investigator to determine “why the structure failed.” He said he was not hired to determine any TVA management or operational problems.
“I conducted a probable failure modes analysis,” Walton said of his work investigating the spill and preparing the report in 2009.
The nation’s largest public utility is trying to avoid lawsuit payouts from the spill of about 5.4 million cubic yards of ash in a breach of an ash pond dam into the Emory River and on a Roane County river community about 35 miles west of Knoxville. Along with a $1.2 billion cleanup that is costing ratepayers an average of 69 cents a month each until 2024, TVA has purchased 889 nearby acres for $46.6 million.