According to an article in todays Knoxville News Sentinel entitled Swollen Emory River carries TVA sludge downstream, coal sludge from December’s TVA Coal Ash Spill may be migrating downstream.

On Monday, May 4, residents along Emory River began noticing cenospheres, bouyant silica particles, on the surface of the river, indicating that the sludge is moving.

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation will be performing bathymetric survey to determine the depth of the coal sludge and to determine if it has, in fact, been spreading downstream.

To read the full article, click here.

60 minutes correspondent Scott Pelley reveals the dark side of coal-burning power plants in a special this Sunday, April 26 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

According to the program description, Pelley talks with Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers, one of the most vocal supporters of the myth of Cl**n Coal, who says that even though coal-fired power plants will eventually have to be made “clean,” he plans to build more carbon-dioxide-spewing plants in the meantime and deal with the problem later.

Pelley also interviews Jim Hansen, of NASA, a leading climate scientist and anti-coal activist, who says that we must stop relying on coal as a power source immediately.

Tune in!

Thanks to the folks at Coal Is Dirty for supplying us with this useful information:

Yesterday, Duke Energy CEO Jim Rogers spoke at the 6th annual Sustainable Energy Conference in Raleigh to promote Duke’s clean energy agenda which includes building a dirty coal plant in Cliffside, North Carolina.

That doesn’t sound like “clean energy” to me.

A lot of other people in North Carolina agree.

So much that they’ve taken to following Rogers wherever he goes and holding him accountable.  Yesterday, a dozen people from a number of groups ( NC WARN, Interfaith Power and Light, Croatan Earth First!, Mountain Justice, Southern Energy Network and Greenpeace) held a protest outside his appearance in Raleigh.

On Monday, April 20, a lot more people are going to be showing up on the doorsteps of Duke’s headquarters in Charlotte to hold Rogers accountable for his corporate double-speak of promoting “clean energy” and building a new coal plant.  Not only will they be protesting, but many won’t be leaving until the police take them away.

The Stop Cliffside Coalition is made up of a dozen environmental, faith-based and civic groups.  Climate scientist James Hansen and actor Martin Sheen have both endorsed and lent their support.  Folks from Appalachia and across the south will be voicing their protest at Rogers and Duke’s plans to pollute North Carolina’s air and water, burn up the climate and fuel it all with mountaintop removal coal.

Anti-coal advocates have formed a polycentric movement which is fighting for climate justice all over the country.  They are stepping it up with a variety of tactics (like bird-dogging Jim Rogers wherever he goes)  and taking more and more risks to put and end to coal (dirty or coal) once and for all.

Take my word, COAL processing is not clean. There is no clean coal. The TVA Coal Ash Disaster on December 22, 2008 will have a negative impact on our community for generations to come. While TVA has had limited contact with residents about the dangers and risk of coal ash exposure, TVA has been quite vocal about the millions it will cost in cleanup efforts. The underlying communication here is that households and businesses are at risk of being charged a higher rate for energy.

Higher rates are just the beginning, this disaster has COST US and our community more than we could have possibly imagined. The spill destroyed the lakes; they are completely polluted and the aquatic species are entirely demolished! TVA destroyed the environment, causing immeasurable levels of pollution. They destroyed our neighborhoods; TVA is buying out our neighborhoods. Neighbors are moving out, leaving vacant properties that were once lakefront homes. Only our poisonous waterways remain. We are losing revenue from local business and our property values have plummeted.

TVA jeopardizes the health of our families, children, wildlife and our environment. The community is experiencing constant mental and physical pressures as a result of the stress caused by this disaster. Many members of the community have dedicated their careers to TVA. Now they are fearful that their livelihood will be compromised if they seek legal action against TVA for damages to their homes, property and health.

Not only did we trust TVA, but we trusted our elected officials to oversee TVA. We are now finding that these officials continue to support TVA and the mining industries over the health and safety of the community. Senator Ken Yager was the Roane County Executive for over 15 years and in 2008, he was elected to the Tennessee state senate. Sadly, Senator Yager has been had by the mining industries, which are behind two state bills Yager proposed, SB1331 / HB1204, which lower the Tennessee State quality standard for selenium.

Selenium, while an essential element, is toxic in large quantities. Presently, the Tennessee state water quality standard for selenium is higher than the EPA standard. The EPA standard, as it is presently written, is making life difficult for the mining industries, who have been called out for polluting the waterways by violating the higher state water standards of selenium. By reducing the selenium water standard, the mining industries (located in Yager’s jurisdiction) will be able to have more freedom on releasing selenium in our waterways. Ironically, the introduction of SB 1331 comes at the same time as the dredging of the Emory River, which is going to be negatively affected by lowered selenium standards. Yager’s actions are a major insult to our community.

One of the most dramatic examples of the catastrophic effects that coal ash can have on our environment and our way of life is that of the Harriman, Tennessee TVA Coal Ash Spill. Pictures of the aftermath of the spill can be seen all over the internet, but there aren’t many pictures posted of what the beaches of Harriman looked like before they were polluted by coal ash.

To understand the true devastation of the spill, you have to see how beautiful Harriman once was. That’s why we made this before and after video of Harriman, set to Nick Annis’ “Filthy Clean”. Check it out and let us know what you think. If you like it, post it to your website, Facebook page or Tweet about it on Twitter! You can also view the video on the Filthy Clean section of our website!

Tuesday’s congressional hearing on coal ash hazards related to the December coal spill in Harriman, Tenn. yielded encouraging results. Sarah McCoin, an activist and resident of Harriman, testified on behalf of her community about the lack of communication from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and their concerns about the future of their community. McCoin also stressed the need to classify coal ash as a toxic substance and the importance of implementing federal regulations for coal ash containment and storage.

McCoin’s testimony shed light on the dangers existing in communities affected by coal spills and garnered support from multiple representatives, urging immediate action. TVA President and CEO, Tom Kilgore, testified that they are “developing a plan to respond to individual health concerns, including a process for determining whether there are health effects that may be related to ash released.” The community is pleased to see that TVA is taking action, but they are still concerned about the long term dangers of the spill.

To learn more about the hearing and the issues surrounding the Harriman community, click on the following links:

Chattanooga Times Free Press
Dave Flessner
April 1, 2009
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2009/apr/01/100-days-later-ash-spill-questions-linger-tennesse/?print

Knoxville News Sentinel
Michael Collins
April 1, 2009
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/apr/01/tva-oversight-promised/

Associated Press (printed in the Sun Herald)
DUNCAN MANSFIELD
April 2, 2009
http://www.sunherald.com/218/story/1242116.html

Gannett Washington Bureau/ WBIR (NBC)
Bill Theobald
March 31, 2009
http://www.wbir.com/news/national/story.aspx?storyid=82945&catid=3

unEARTHED �
Jared Saylor
March 31, 2009                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                http://unearthed.earthjustice.org/2009/03/congress-hearing-on-tva-coal-ash-spill.html

Sierra Club Compass
Nithin Coca
April 2, 2009
http://sierraclub.typepad.com/compass/2009/04/coal-ash-regulation-questions-concerns-linger-over-the-tva-spill.html#more

Daily Kos
Bruce Nilles
April 2, 2009
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/4/2/715799/-QuestionsConcerns-Linger-Over-the-TVA-Spill

The Sietch Blog
Bruce Nilles
April 2, 2009
http://www.blog.thesietch.org/author/bruce/

Wreckage after the December 22, 2008 Tennessee Valley Authority coal ash spill.

Today, Congress heard just how devistating a coal ash spill can be to a community. Sarah McCoin, an activist and resident of Harriman, TN, testified before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment about the destruction to her small community as a result of the catastrophic Tennessee Valley (TVA) coal ash spill on December 22, 2008. Communities affected by coal ash spills, like Harriman, Tenn., are abundant nationwide. Spills regularly occur, destroying many communities like Stevenson, Alabama, the Ocoee River community in East Tennessee and most recently, Luke, Maryland experienced a spill that threatened the water supply to Washington D.C. residents.

There are hundreds of communities similar to Harriman in the United States and all of them are affected by coal ash. This year alone, there have been 3 coal ash spills. These spills destroy the ecosystem, pollute water bodies and wreak havoc on the land. Further, airborne particles from coal ash cause serious respiratory ailments and other health problems for people residing near the spills.

“Our kids are sick with chronic illnesses that are passed off as merely asthma,” said McCoin in her testimony today. “Parents don’t know where to go for answers and are struggling to pay for the medical bills they are acquiring.”

McCoin maked the point in both her written and oral testimony that residents are not being told about the health impacts of coal ash contamination. In the case of Harriman, Tenn., TVA has failed to be forthright with information and neglects to conduct the appropriate tests to ensure the health and safety of the residents. TVA has also failed to communicate with the community as they identify cleanup plans.

Currently there exists no uniform federal regulation regarding coal ash storage and containment. Coal ash is known to contain toxic heavy metals including, antimony, aluminum, arsenic, beryllium, boron, cadmium, iron, lead, manganese, radium, selenium, thallium and uranium.

These metals can be linked to a wide variety of health impacts, many of which Harriman resident are experiencing. While these heavy metals are toxic, coal ash itself is not considered a hazardous waste and therefore continues to be unregulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“Harriman’s story exemplifies why other communities near coal ash impoundments have a personal stake in pressing the Congress to act,” said Cindy Rank Chair, of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy Mining Committee. “For the safety of our families, we need coal ash containment facilities to be federally regulated and the nearby ground and surface waters monitored long term, and we need the coal ash to be officially declared a hazardous waste.”

Harriman, Tenn., was irrevocably changed by the TVA coal ash spill. 1.1 billion gallons of coal sludge currently covers more than 440 acres, destroyed at least a dozen houses and wiped out local road. Coal ash spilled into the Emory River, a tributary to the Clinch and Tennessee Rivers, contaminating the rivers with toxic metals and endangering human health and that of the ecosystem.

West Virginia is already suffering from the impact of the coal industry and its by-product pollutant, coal-ash. A story entitled WV dumping ground for Maryland coal waste, by Jessica Lilly of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, aired on March 23, reports that WV is not only storing coal ash produced by coal WV coal companies, but also by companies in Maryland.

NewPage Corp., a Maryland paper company, currently pipes around 85,000 tons of coal ash a year across the Potomac and into a lagoon in Mineral County, West Virginia. Alegheny Energy, a Maryland power plant, pumps around 35,000 tons of coal ash a year into a dam in Berkeley County, West Virginia, and soon Pennsylvania will be dumping coal ash in the mountain state as well.

Read the full article here.

The Wall Street Journal published an article today (March 20, 2009) entitled Coal Hard Facts: Cleaning It Won’t Be Dirt Cheap: The Technology to Scrub Carbon Dioxide Is Within Reach, but It Costs Too Much Money and Consumes Too Much Energy.

In this article, author, Jeff Ball, examines the pros and cons of Cl**n Coal Technology and determines that it is an unrealistic solution to the CO2-induced global warming crisis. He notes that, “whether it [Cl**n Coal Technology] is broadly and quickly adopted around the world will depend less on science than on economics.”

The article reviews the various theories of how to decrease CO2 emissions from coal plants, and how these proposed methods would cost the U.S. billions of dollars in research funding per year with no promise of actual fruition. He confirms that Cl**n Coal Technology is not only going to be too expensive to research, but also too expensive to potentially maintain.

Read the full article here.

The Wall Street Journal published an article today (March 20, 2009) entitled Coal Hard Facts: Cleaning It Won’t Be Dirt Cheap: The Technology to Scrub Carbon Dioxide Is Within Reach, but It Costs Too Much Money and Consumes Too Much Energy.

In this article, author, Jeff Ball, examines the pros and cons of Cl**n Coal Technology and determines that it is an unrealistic solution to the CO2-induced global warming crisis. He notes that, “whether it [Cl**n Coal Technology] is broadly and quickly adopted around the world will depend less on science than on economics.”

The article reviews the various theories of how to decrease CO2 emissions from coal plants, and how these proposed methods would cost the U.S. billions of dollars in research funding per year with no promise of actual fruition. He confirms that Cl**n Coal Technology is not only going to be too expensive to research, but also too expensive to potentially maintain.

Read the full article here.

Judging by today’s Treehugger post, Shell Gets Out of Wind & Solar Power, Backs Biolfuels and CCS Instead, by Matthew McDermott, companies like Shell Oil have not yet accepted that there is no such thing as “Cl**an Coal.”

Shell, one of the original backers of London Array, which will be the world largest offshore wind farm, has now pulled all of its Wind and Solar funding and refocused on Biofuel and Cl**n Coal Technology.

They are hoping that CCT will allow them to safely extract energy from Canadian tar sands without increasing their carbon footprint. This might not be a sound investment, since the process of extraction from tar sand produces 3x the emissions of coal.

Read the article here.