Coal Ash Disaster Update: Boxer "Annoyed" With Herself for Failure to Oversee TVA

by Emily Gertz

Published January 11, 2009 @ 07:46PM PT

Related: Take Action on Tennessee Coal Ash Disaster -- Donations being collected towards testing and medical costs for victims of the disaster, and other ways to help...

The Senator Regrets: Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) admits being "annoyed" at herself for neglecting to oversee the Tennessee Valley Authority, and then distances the Senate from responsibility all the same:

I'm annoyed at myself because my committee has jurisdiction over the TVA ... and they're the ones that run this particular facility and others. I should have done more to be proactive and I feel bad about it.

That's one of their prime missions; to be an environmental steward. It's in their mission and they just haven't lived up to it.

Happily, now that several hundred acres of the Tennessee Valley are covered with 1.1 billion gallons of coal slurry, Sen. Boxer wishes to regulate the stuff.
(ABCNews.com)

Blogging from the scene: Life on Swan Pond is a personal account of the flood and life since the disaster, by a victim of the disaster, who is blogging anonymously. A Jan. 8 account of taking his-or-her grandson in for heavy metal testing:

This was not the easiest thing for us to endure.  I did not have the testing myself, due to the cost and the "little man" was able to have it due to donations that were much appreciated.  The hardest part of this procedure was when he had to have his blood drawn.  I don't like to see him cry, or in pain... but it was something that needed to be done.  There were tears shed besides his.  It was heartbreaking to know that this was avoidable.  

I blame TVA for him having to experience this..... 

I can say that all of those involved at the test site were wonderful, kind and compassionate.  I thank them for their time and dedication to this project.

The amount of toxic waste spilled in Tennessee is "100 times more waste than the Exxon Valdez disaster." (Time Magazine)

Could a disaster like this happen again? Millions of tons of toxic ash is piling up in containment ponds across 32 states, it turns out, with Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia and Alabama leading the pack. 156 coal-fired power plants store waste ash in ponds similar to the one that failed in Tennessee. None are regulated by the federal government.

But wait, there's more: On Friday, as much of 10,000 gallons of slurry spilled from another TVA coal plant waste containment pond into Widows Creek, a Tennessee River tributary. This accident occurred at the Widows Creek Fossil Plant in northeastern Alabama, and involved gypsum slurry. A state environmental official said no "negative impact on aquatic life" had been seen, or "contamination of drinking water" expected. An environmental advocate described Widows Creek as inundated with an ashlike substance. "“This is not as bad as Kingston, but it’s worse than T.V.A. is acknowledging," said John Wathen. "This is two failures by T.V.A. in one month’s time, both in the Tennessee River. Both are potential problems for downstream water intake.'" (The New York Times)

United Mountain Defense volunteers went to Alabama to take water samples. They've been reporting back on the UMD's blog, including this account posted on Jan. 10:

Our next stop was in Widows Creek, much farther upstream than yesterday's expedition, about 300 yards from the dam. James took six samples from three different points in the creek, about 20 feet from the bank. He saw a thick, gritty coating of grayish slime on the surface of the water as well as adhering to the trees. The slime stretched out in a band, coating everything within 70 feet of the channel. He took some photographs of this while I remained at the tree line and captured video of patrol boats and helicopters zooming around, amidst the sounds of water pumps, dump trucks, and other heavy machinery.

We thanked our helpful friend for the use of his property and showed him the photographs of the slime. He said he didn't expect us to find any heavy metals in the water samples, but is curious to find out about the composition of the contaminants.

On our way out, we were flagged down by the two police officers who had been watching us as we worked in the horse pond. We were questioned, asked for identification, and given a verbal warning for their "reason to believe" that we had trespassed on TVA land.

Video: A photo montage created by the daughter of a neighbor of the "Life on Swan Pond" blogger, showing Swan Pond, before and after the Kingston, Tenn. coal ash disaster.