NASHVILLE, Tenn.- Some state lawmakers call it a "catastrophe of Biblical proportions" and they want answers. TVA's president went before lawmakers, hungry for answers after December's coal ash spill. Tom Kilgore painted a grim and expensive picture about clean-up efforts in Roane County.
It could cost $825 million to clean up everything. Many lawmakers wanted to know if that's going to mean a rate increase for you and me.
Diana Anderson has witnessed first hand what many of us have only seen on television, the impact of a major spill from TVA's Kingston plant. A billion gallons of coal ash covered 300 acres of land in Roane County.
"The amount that spilled here would be sufficient to put about 11 tons of ash on everyone of those acres," said TVA's president, Tom Kilgore.
TVA's president, and Diana Anderson are here to give state lawmakers perspective about the catastrophe.
"They don't collect air filters from our homes, they don't realize this stuff is in our homes, we breathe it, we eat it," said Diana Anderson, Roane County resident.
A main concern and question is whether the coal ash that's in rivers and just about everywhere dangerous. Testing shows it's a hazardous substance, but thousands of air samples, and hundreds of water samples reveal there's no danger.
"Of course one of our first priorities is to get the ash out of the river," said
But getting the ash out of the river hasn't happened yet, and lawmakers wanted to know why. The TVA says federal red tape is tying up the permits needed to go ahead with what could be an $825 -million clean up effort.
CEO Kilgore said he does not expect a rate increase to help cover the cost. He also assured lawmakers they've hired the best people not only to coordinate a massive clean up effort, but there's also a firm investigating what happened. Meantime, TVA is doing things differently to make sure a catastrophe like this, never happens again.
"We had somebody on the dike the day before it failed, they made routine rounds of the dikes.
What we're doing now is we are actually drilling holes in these dikes to see what you cannot see from the surface," said Kilgore.
What happened in Roane County is the largest coal ash spill in our nation's history. Exactly how long it will take to clean everything up is a mystery. Just to clean up the river channels, that's expected to take at least 8 to 10 months.
While it could cost $825-million to clean everything up, the TVA is expected to reimburse the state for any money they spend.
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