Tennessee Coal Plant Toxic Spill
An Eastern Tennessee Coal Plant has maintained a total of 2.2 million pounds of toxic coal ash in a holding pond within their facilities. The Kingston Fossil Plant, owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority, had a breakage in the holding pond and caused massive flooding of surrounding areas with the toxic chemicals, many of which could cause various health problems including cancer. Officials from the plant have said that the sludge released are not toxic, but have also released a joint statement with the EPA for all people and animals to avoid any contact with it. This seems like total crap and a spill like this is just inexcusable.
At the request of the New York Times, the Tennessee Valley Authority released the byproducts of their plant:
The plant’s byproducts included 45,000 pounds of arsenic, 49,000 pounds of lead, 1.4 million pounds of barium, 91,000 pounds of chromium and 140,000 pounds of manganese.
Those are some scary metals and are all linked to causing serious health conditions if exposed to. Who knows that long-term impact of a massive spill like this to the residents in the local community as well as surrounding areas. What’s worse is that authorities from the plant have been slow to inform the local residents of the spill and the dangers it could cause.
This is just another example of wealthy individuals who own these types of plants who care more about making money than the safety of the public or the environment. A formal investigation is going to be done on the spill and how to prevent further incidents like this from happening. Is this really enough though? A plant that allows a holding facility of toxic sludge to break should no longer be in business. This is also just another wake up call to people that coal and other dirty sources of energy need to be eliminated in our country. The danger their byproducts pose are not worth the slightly smaller price tag they have.
