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Months after ash spill, Tennessee town still choking

cnn.com — Residents are afraid of the chemicals that were released into the environment: arsenic, selenium, lead and radioactive materials including chromium and barium.

Who dugg this? Made popular Jul 14, 2009

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  • flamingdigger, on 07/13/2009, -2/+47An environmental disaster bigger than Exxon Valdez, and there's virtually no press coverage.
  • veeve, on 07/13/2009, -1/+24I feel badly about those poor folk living there with their families. In their place, I'd abandon my house and get my family out of there as fast as possible. Only a fool would trust the EPA's word. Doesn't anyone remember how former EPA Chief, Christine Todd Whitman said the air at Ground Zero after 9/11 was safe? Thousands of first responders and Battery Park residents developed severe, chronic respiratory problems that have even led to many deaths. I would bet that there isn't a solitary remaining search and rescue dog from 9/11 left alive. Don't trust the EPA and get your kids out of there, even if it means abandoning your house and living out of your car. Houses can be rebuilt, your children's health can not.
  • bugwayji, on 07/14/2009, -4/+20 Sorry, Corporate profit before health, what do you think, America is building a Society?
  • wonderchemist, on 07/13/2009, -0/+16"radioactive materials including chromium..."

    I be more worried about the chemical toxicity of chromium rather than any radioactivity. Look up the half life Cr-50 for kicks.
  • JohnnySoftware, on 07/14/2009, -1/+14Something is weird. I went to the Tennessee Valley Authority and there is no mention of this. In fact, their web site is laced with stances they have taken in lawsuits at the end of May that their coal plants do not present a nuissance, that they are "Green Energy", and that big news - they made such contributions to the environment in 2007.

    http://www.tva.gov/news/releases/aprjun09/ncappeal ...
    http://www.tva.gov/greenpowerswitch/index.htm
    http://www.tva.gov/abouttva/index.htm
  • waspbr, on 07/14/2009, -4/+14clean coal FTW


    /s
  • JohnnySoftware, on 07/14/2009, -1/+9Watch the video when you read the article. There is a link for it. It's an expose piece by medical & environmental experts Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Erin Brochovitch.

    The kicker at the end is that there are 45 other coal dumps like this one that broke and scattered ash composed of hazardous elements all over the area. The other sites identified by the EPA are scattered all around the country.

    Maybe the 2009 EPA would catch something the 2008 EPA missed if they took a second look at the disaster site. It's the biggest chemical waste disaster in US history. An order of magnitude bigger than the Exxon Valdeez oil spill disaster. I hope they give it a second thought. Having a good analysis would also help when the other coal dust storage site collapse on their own too.
  • StrangeFamous, on 07/14/2009, -3/+11You guys are dicks.


    FTA:

    "Pamela Hampton says she first noticed that her children were having health problems only days after the spill.

    First, 11-year-old Monica started complaining about headaches. Then, all three children -- Monica, 6-year-old Noah and 3-year-old Joshua -- began to experience upper-respiratory problems, fevers, ear infections, runny noses and red eyes.

    "You're taking your child to the doctor yet again, or two children, and then in a week, the next child is sick," Hampton said. "After about the third or fourth time, that's when I started realizing that this is not a coincidence. It's like being sucker-punched."

    Noah Hampton's ear infections were so persistent, his ears so inflamed, Pamela Hampton says, the family's doctor said it looked like he had growths in his ears resembling small grapes."



    Yeah, "kids get sick", but they don't ALL get sick at the same time, merely DAYS after the spill happened. Please enlighten us as to the natural cause of this, otherwise stop acting like you're the only voice of reason on the internet.
  • inactive, on 07/14/2009, -1/+9Shhhh... we've got to keep this QUIET because there are PROFITS to be made! And don't try to REGULATE us for god's sake, you'll choke our PROFITS!

    /s The Coal Companies
  • NJank, on 07/14/2009, -1/+7before the 'citation needed' crowd strikes:
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4904188. ...
    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/05/nyregion/06repor ...

    However, is there a reference for the 'many deaths' statement? I can only find one reference in those articles or others pointing to a single case thus far (back in January 2006) of a policeman who 'developed a respiratory disease (that) was "directly linked" to 9/11'. Have there been more documented cases?
  • bobburn1, on 07/14/2009, -0/+6They have that information so that they stay in business. Many in Tennessee are clamoring to privatize the TVA and they are working to prevent it.
  • flaknugget, on 07/14/2009, -1/+6Ya, but we'll still hear from experts-for-hire who say effects of toxic waste on humans is inconclusive... and clean-coal is just around the corner, so hang in there ....

    ... and global warming is a myth, socialized healthcare is dangerous, waterboarding is just "enhanced" interrogation, the earth is 6000 years old, Darwin was a proto-Nazi, and the WMDs are in Iran.

    Only in America.
  • inactive, on 07/14/2009, -0/+5I have an idea.
    See all these TVA and EPA people that say there are not sufficient amounts of toxic waste there to be hazardous to human health, and that under federal measures the water is safe to drink and air is safe to breathe there?
    Evacuate the residents of that area and put in those TVA and EPA people. Make them live there.
    If they try to leave, shoot them.
  • PostalPenguin, on 07/14/2009, -0/+4In ten years they will figure out that the coal ash is indeed toxic, the people will sue, rightfully win millions, the company will go bankrupt and the government will foot the bill. Instead of spending a few million to fix the damn, the government will now end up spending tens of millions if not hundreds of millions to fix the damage.
  • Googoozilla, on 07/14/2009, -0/+4Yes...somebody is getting paid to look the other way. And no...Its probably not a good idea to live around there anymore.
  • inactive, on 07/14/2009, -0/+3Its only human health, and if you get sick, some of the same companies who profit from the spilling of waste can now sell you expensive drugs!
    so its win-win!
  • SirBruce, on 07/14/2009, -0/+3The same kids also got sick before the spill, and got better. Headaches, breathing issues, fevers, ear infections, runny noses, and red eyes are all very common problems for kids. And yes, almost anyone who has spent time caring for children will tell you that many can get sick at the same time or in a row.
  • ShiftyBizniss, on 07/14/2009, -1/+4you said it.. this is the first i've heard of this.. and I'm on digg every day, and i skim the newspaper on the subway every morning.
  • waspbr, on 07/14/2009, -2/+5the thing is, clean coal is a myth on its own, most of clean coal tech consists on air scrubbing and CO2 ground fixation. While scrubing may be able to capture the sulphates, soot and CO2 with some degree of success there catching the nitrate oxides is still rather difficult.

    Furthermore, the whole process of extraction of coal is very dirty,destructive and harmful to the environment where heavy metals and ash products are washed out into open reservoirs. On top of that, working conditions are harmful.

    There is nothing clean about clean coal, just an industry that wants to re-brand itself.
  • Stingwolf, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2Our local (Knoxville) stations covered the spill and cleanup pretty extensively. I never realized that I wasn't seeing much coverage on the national level.
  • ModernDayDarwin, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2It's just up the road, and it's a mess. From where I'm sitting though progress is being made, it's just a big mess in every aspect of the situation.
  • jeffwmartin, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2TVA is a government owned corporation
  • nsanidy, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2/s = /serious ?
  • getoffmybridge, on 07/14/2009, -2/+4Get lost, coal shills
  • ZiggityZhang, on 07/14/2009, -0/+2Well to start this was never an argument about the reality of clean coal in the first place, I was stating that the dam wall breaking was not related to clean coal technology.

    And I don't know how you can say NOx emissions are the biggest issue; scrubbers have almost eliminated that from coal plants when burned. That's why acid rain is not as much of an issue today as it was 30 years ago. Right now CO2 emissions are the biggest concern.

    I don't know where you get this idea of mining waste being dumped into open reservoirs being the norm; there are strict regulations regarding mining as well as the burning of coal.

    Coal use has pretty much tripled since the 1970s, yet emissions have declined by about a third (read the EPA reports). By your logic, there should be no visible trend of decline in pollution from coal, but the opposite is true.
  • inactive, on 07/14/2009, -2/+3Pathetic. So, you're OK building your house next to toxic waste, Bruce? Just don't touch it or let your kids play in it and you'll be good.
  • inactive, on 07/14/2009, -1/+2The federal government has tried to regulate the coal industry for years, with little to show for it. TVA is run like any other coal company.
  • Mike17102, on 07/14/2009, -1/+2***** off, etard.
  • jeffwmartin, on 07/14/2009, -0/+1So you think the government should have regulated TVA to prevent this? I'm sure you would respond w/ a pro-government, big business is bad answer. News flash: TVA is a federally owned corporation. It was created by the government and has always been run by the government.
  • inajeep, on 07/14/2009, -1/+2Safe bet considering the attack was almost 9 years ago and dogs do not have a long life span.

    But your right, get out now.

  • jeffwmartin, on 07/14/2009, -0/+1The company is already owned by the government, always has been. So the government will foot the bill no matter what.
  • inactive, on 07/14/2009, -1/+1I meant it to me /signed. I could've been more clear.
  • budboomer, on 07/14/2009, -2/+2Nail on head.
  • SirBruce, on 07/14/2009, -1/+1I'm okay for it to be LEGAL to build your house next to toxic waste if it can't reach you unless you make an effort to reach it. It may be in the public interest not to build housing near such sites, just to avoid potential hazards people are too dumb to avoid, but that's entirely a local issue. None of which applies here, where an accidental spill took place AFTER the homes existed.
  • Chuggles123, on 07/14/2009, -1/+0Actually, my dad (who works for the TVA) says that they're investigating the problem although he says they probably wont find out who is to blame until they uncover some sort of email. He says if anything a few people have been paid to come and find out what went wrong.
  • phrost88, on 07/14/2009, -3/+1USA USA USA ...
  • ZiggityZhang, on 07/14/2009, -4/+2tbh I don't think this has anything to do with clean coal at all. This disaster didn't happen because of clean coal technology shortcomings, it happened because of design failures in the ash dike wall.

    I WISH the plant had implemented clean coal technology, since that would have reduced the need to store all their fly ash in huge dams that can collapse.
  • TheSeanFace, on 07/14/2009, -2/+0Its late and I read Chromium as Chloroform, that would have been awesome.
  • 4AntiStupid, on 07/14/2009, -3/+0That sounds like a Billy Joel song.
  • inactive, on 07/14/2009, -5/+1I say we let EL RUSHMO go down there and snort this stuff up considering the amount of cocaine he does this should be a walk in the park.
  • Mike17102, on 07/14/2009, -12/+4Please keep your common sense off digg. Here we only care about pushing our anti-corporate agenda. The only form of power that isnt PURE EVIL is solar, wind, and caged magical fairies. Even though 2 of those cant even come ***** close to generating enough power for the US and the other doesnt exist.

    Since we live in our parents basement still and they are footing the electric bill, we dont see why having cheap energy (aka coal) is a good thing. So what if mommy and daddy have to shell out a lot more each month?
  • bobburn1, on 07/14/2009, -13/+2Barack Obama doesn't care about white people.

    /s
  • SirBruce, on 07/14/2009, -16/+4These citizens are morons. FTA:

    "TVA is denying health issues, yet they tell us 'don't breathe it, don't touch it, don't let kids near it,' " McCoin said. "I know darn well that stuff's hazardous, and you know what, they know it too," McCoin said."

    Yes, and rat poison is hazardous, too. Does that mean if I put some rat poison in my garage, I'm going to have health issues? No, because I don't go into the garage and breath it or touch it or eat it. Fish in the waters getting sick? Good news; you don't drink the water like that, you drink it after it's been treated and is safe. Every test done so far indicates the air, water, etc. that local citizens are exposed to is safe. Yes, you'll get sick if you dive into the pool of polluted coal ash. So don't do that.

    Now people think any health problem their kids have must be caused by the spill, rather than just, you know, the fact that KIDS GET SICK. Or the woman who had seizures before the spill for reasons doctors couldn't determine, but say are triggered by stress. After the spill, she has more seizures. Gee, you think she maybe also has more stress? Particularly since some environmentalist whackos are trying to convince her the spill is causing her seizures? Morons.

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