Coal Ash Isn't Just A Tennessee Problem

Back when most of us were rushing to do last minute holiday shopping this past Christmas, a break in a coal slurry dam resulted in millions of cubic gallons of coal ash spilling out, injuring several and devastating a large area in Tennessee. Public officials and most of the media helped to tamp down the story from becoming much of a sensation, but the damage still remains. What's worse, the Bush Administration suppressed a report concerning elevated cancer risks in the area. Now that Obama is in office we at least get to see that report, but the effects of coal ash reach much further than Tennessee.

From McClatchy DC:

WASHINGTON — People in 34 states who live near 210 coal ash lagoons or landfills with inadequate lining have a higher risk of cancer and other diseases from contaminants in their drinking water, two environmental groups reported on Thursday.

Twenty-one states have five or more of the high-risk disposal sites near coal-fired power plants. The groups -- the Environmental Integrity Project and Earthjustice -- said that a 2002 Environmental Protection Agency document that the agency didn't release until March of this year adds information about toxic releases from these facilities to nearby water systems and data on how some contaminants accumulate in fish and deer and can harm the health of people who hunt and fish.

The report said that people who live near the most problematic disposal sites have as much as a 1-in-50 chance of getting cancer from drinking water contaminated by arsenic. The highest risk is for people who live near ash ponds with no liners and who get their water from wells.

Basically, you don't have to have a large disaster in order to suffer from the effects of coal ash and the ponds that supposedly help retain the substance. Coal power plants are run in such a way that the process ultimately ends up harming the local population. For all the touting we hear about coal and it's potential to be "clean," there's really nothing clean about it.

The Coal Truth Is Being Hidden In Tennessee

The traditional media won't report more than what TVA spokespersons tell them, so why don't we just go around and see what the coal sludge disaster actually did to Tennessee's rivers, valleys and people.

Sandra Diaz, National Field Coordinator for Appalachian Voices, Hurricane Creekeeper John Wathen and Watauga Riverkeeper Donna Lisenby paddle up the Clinch and Emory Rivers to record the conditions after a 5.4 million cubic yard spill of coal waste from the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston Coal Plant.

Getting The Coal Truth From Tennessee Is Hard To Do

This past week has been extremely rough in the area of Central Tennessee affected by the dam break that was holding back a large amount of coal sludge. Initial reports said that only a few homes were damaged and that the analysis of the sludge was not harmful where it spread. No big deal right? Wrong. A coal fired power plant's byproducts are a serious issue and finding out what truly happened is essential here.

From The NY Times:

Authority officials initially said that about 1.7 million cubic yards of wet coal ash had spilled when the earthen retaining wall of an ash pond breached, but on Thursday they released the results of an aerial survey that showed the actual amount was 5.4 million cubic yards, or enough to flood more than 3,000 acres one foot deep. The amount now said to have been spilled is larger than the amount the Authority initially said was in the pond, 2.6 million cubic yards.

Of course, the T.V.A. was quick to dismiss the potential bad news:

“You’re not going to be endangered by touching the ash material,” said Barbara Martocci, a spokeswoman for the T.V.A. “You’d have to eat it. You have to get it in your body.”

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation also released a statement saying there was no indication of risk unless the ash was ingested.

Yet, they forget to play things out. No one is going to literally pick up pieces of ash and eat them as you'd pick berries in the forest. The problems from disasters like this are mostly in the future and residents are pissed that not much is really being done.

“We’re terribly frustrated,” said Donald Smith, 58, a laboratory facilities manager who lives in the affected area. “It seems like T.V.A. is just throwing darts at the problem, and they don’t have a clue how to really fix it.

“It was nice that they came by to talk to us. They’re making an effort. But what upsets me is they didn’t have a plan in place. Why hadn’t anybody thought, ‘What happens if this thing bursts?’ ”

Well Donald, coming up with a plan would have expended time and energy, something the Authority obviously didn't care for. They did have things ready to save valuable materials (see the article for the stuff on bowling balls for example) and were ready to work furiously to re-open the roads and especially railways that bring the coal to the plant to be processed.

In this age of government where the system has been purposefully broken by conservative ideology, it is only natural that the Authority is following the lead of the federal (and state) government. Looking after the moneyed interests always comes first before the safety and health of people affected by man-made tragedies such as this.

A Not So Merry Christmas In Tennessee

I am blessed enough in my life that I can fly down to warm, sunny Florida and spend time with my girlfriend and her parents for this holiday season. At least so far, I do not have to deal with any calamities, either natural or man-made. However, up in Tennessee, a dam broke just two days ago near the town of Harriman and damaged several homes. Luckily no one was seriously injured or killed.

From The Huffington Post:

HARRIMAN, Tenn. — An earthen dam holding back a retention pond broke early Monday at a power plant run by the nation's largest public utility, releasing a frigid mix of water, ash and mud that damaged 12 homes and put hundreds of acres of rural land under water.

The 40-acre pond was used by the Tennessee Valley Authority to hold a slurry of ash generated by the coal-burning Kingston Steam Plant in Harriman, about 50 miles west of Knoxville, said TVA spokesman Gil Francis. The dam gave way just before 1 a.m, burying a road and railroad tracks leading to the plant under several feet of dark gray mud.

So far the blame has been put on heavy rain and cold temperatures. I'm not an engineer, but I simply do not buy that. Dams that are built to hold the waste of a coal power plant should be able to withstand changes in the weather. I'm glad that the Tennessee Valley Authority is going to check up on the other fifty-something year old dams in the area, but a better investment is needed in these structures that have so much potential destructive energy in them. Or else next time we might not be as lucky with injuries or fatalities.

Newsflash: Republicans Hate Big Oil Too!

This isn't about the elected officials in the back pocket of oil lobbyists, so lets be clear on that first. We are talking about the Republican primary voters in Tennessee who ousted their long time Congressman David Davis. The challenger, Phil Roe, a Republican mayor in the area beat out Davis by a slim margin, but the fact that he won in an area where incumbency rules is huge. The fact that he did it by calling out Davis' connection to big oil is also tremendous.

From RawStory:

Being linked to "big oil" turned into a big problem for Tennessee Republican freshman Rep. David Davis, who became the first congressman from that state to lose in a primary in more than four decades.

Johnson City Mayor Phil Roe beat Davis by a 500-vote margin Thursday in the solidly Republican 1st District in the northeastern corner of the state.

Roe's victory came after a bruising campaign in which he accused Davis of selling out to "big oil."

Congressional incumbents from Tennessee are rarely voted out of office. Statewide, the last time an incumbent was defeated in a party primary was 1966 when Democrat Tom Murray lost to Ray Blanton in what was then the 7th District. Blanton won the general election then became governor in 1974.

Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, everyone is equal, depending on the car they buy of course, when standing in front of a gas pump. Sky high prices will drive (no pun intended) people to do extraordinary things, such as kicking out local Congressman in the desire for change. The residents of TN-01 may have just picked another Republican, but it business as usual was not what they voted for this time around.

Oil companies, their lobbyists and the politicians who take their money better beware. This small primary could be more telling than they'd like it to be.

EMILY's List Must Renounce Their Support Of Anti-Semite Nikki Tinker

Having volunteered some time for Emily's List in Arizona a few years back, I know that there are many good people in this organization. Their number one qualification for endorsing candidates is finding pro-choice women, but sometimes it is good to exercise some common sense (well all the time really). They failed to do that with Nikki Tinker, in her bid to unseat fellow Democrat and Congressman Steven Cohen. Simply put, her behaviors are inexcusable and have no business being endorsed by a supposedly reputable organization like Emily's List.

From TPM:

This brutal new attack ad from House candidate Nikki Tinker, who is challenging liberal Tennessee Rep. Steven Cohen in tomorrow's Democratic primary, just might be the nastiest, most race-baiting (and Jew-baiting) ad of the entire cycle:

"While he's in our churches, clapping his hands and tapping his feet ... he's the only senator who thought our kids shouldn't be allowed to pray in school," the announcer says, referring to an old vote against school prayer from when Cohen was a state senator. And remember, this is coming from a Democrat.

Cohen is the only white Congressman from a majority-minority district in the South, and was elected largely because of the divided field of black candidates in the 2006 primary, which included Tinker herself. Tinker never really stopped running against him, and has picked up the support of EMILY's List and a few members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Furthermore, Cohen is a Jew -- which makes the "our churches" line all the more suspicious. Tinker's campaign has not yet returned our call for comment on what message the ad is supposed to communicate.

The ad is sickening to say the least. Local reporters know how bad this ad is, along with the rest of her disgusting voter outreach attempts over the airwaves. I wrote Emily's List that I find their support of Tinker to be outrageous, and you can let them know what you think right here as well. If NARAL can support Congressman Cohen, so should Emily's List.

Violent Right Wing Rhetoric Becomes Tragically Real

Since September 11th, the right wing echo chamber has become increasingly violent in regards to their rhetoric. The hatred shown by pundits such as O'Reilly, Coulter, Hannity and Michael Savage has been vicious towards liberals and those that oppose their way of seeing a black and white, good versus evil world. Well people out there listen to their foaming-at-the-mouth rhetoric and unfortunately we will see tragic events like this happen more frequently.

From RawStory:

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - An out-of-work truck driver accused of opening fire at a Unitarian church, killing two people, left behind a note suggesting that he targeted the congregation out of hatred for its liberal policies, including its acceptance of gays, authorities said Monday.

A four-page letter found in Jim D. Adkisson's small SUV indicated he intentionally targeted the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church because, the police chief said, "he hated the liberal movement" and was upset with "liberals in general as well as gays."[...]

The attack Sunday morning lasted only minutes. But the anger behind it may have been building for months, if not years.

"It appears that what brought him to this horrible event was his lack of being able to obtain a job, his frustration over that, and his stated hatred for the liberal movement," Police Chief Sterling Owen said.

Adkisson was a loner who hates "blacks, gays and anyone different from him," longtime acquaintance Carol Smallwood of Alice, Texas, told the Knoxville News Sentinel.

These pathetic individuals are exactly the type that right-wing commentators go after. They seek out those that hate the world for their situation, without opening their eyes to realize that so many are in the same boat with them. Instead, it is a "me against the world" attitude that breeds hate and violence when a strong dose of ignorance is involved. Every once in a while our society is exposed to the culmination of one individual's hate. Yet it would be wrong to write this off as one loon that killed innocent people, because that loon is getting his information from somewhere.

Guns + Bars = Fightin Terror?

The always intrepid Stephen Colbert interviews Tennessee's state Senator Doug Jackson on why its smart ridiculous to allow guns in bars.



Best part? He believes that people will not drink with their guns while in the bar.

Yes Mr. Bush, Life Is Unfair, Thanks For The Reminder

Thank you President Bush for being such a calm and confident leader, raising the hopes of millions of Americans wherever you go. Oh wait, I'm sorry, wrong President, I must have been in some alternate universe where Al Gore rightfully won and ascended to be the 43rd President in 2000 instead of your sorry ass. Thanks for reminding the poor people of Tennessee that lost dozens of their family and friends that "life is unfair." What the f**k would you know about that sir? The only thing that comes to mind when I think of "unfair" and your name is how many people you have treated unfairly (to put it very, very lightly) over the course of seven years.

It was extremely unfair when you used the tragedy of September 11th to start a war in Iraq, a place that had nothing, I repeat, nothing to do with what happened here in New York. It is unfair that thousands of our soldiers have had to die for your lust for war. It is unfair that their families must live with your decision every day for as long as they live. It is unfair that the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on that mess is diverted from helping America stay fiscally strong.

It was unfair when you gave huge tax breaks to the wealthy and a few hundred dollars to the rest of us back when you started your woeful Presidency.It was unfair to reward your buddies in corporate America while scaling back programs for the poor. You have replaced programs that helped the least among us with corporate welfare. Those that are in need have nothing while those that have everything are given even more.

It was unfair Mr. Bush for you to have promised to rebuild and restore those that lived in the area that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and the levees that broke because of it. It is disgusting that they are still waiting for that aid two and a half years later. Now all you can do for the people of Macon County, TN is to remind them that life is unfair, piling on to the grief and despair that they already feel. You could have started by delivering what they need, but again, the best you could was to take a helicopter ride and poo poo them before you rode back to the White House.

Now that is unfair.

The only fair thing you could do would be to resign, but we are already painfully aware that it'll be a cold day in hell before that happens.