Thursday, March 26, 2009
Hargrove TVA Begins Dredging Fly Ash From Emory River Today
Posted by Brantley Hargrove on Thu, Mar 26, 2009 at 12:15 PM
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Today marks the beginning of what will likely be a lengthy, filthy process--dredging the estimated three million yards of fly ash sitting at the bottom of the Emory River after a late December spill at TVA's Kingston Fossil Plant.
This is just phase one of the dredging and TVA officials aim to remove nearly two million yards of it over the next two months, according to the Roane County News. A TVA ball field has been converted to an ash processing center, but it remains to be seen where the ash will be taken for long-term storage. Nearby Midtown has been discussed, sparking an uproar among the residents in the small town who don't want the toxic ash in their backyards.
The dredging, while a positive if not environmentally destructive step, has the potential to create a whole host of new problems. Some potentially radioactive pollutants from the Department of Energy's operation in Oak Ridge could get stirred up by the dredging. An interagency working group comprised of officials from the EPA, DOE and TVA signed off on the dredging, but critics point out that there's an awful lot of riverbottom down there.
Could there be deposits they missed?
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