Tennessee agreed to send $26.5 million in taxpayer funds to the state’s parks and recreation departments as part of a Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation grant program awarded to 32 communities.
The grants are part of the Local Parks and Recreation Fund to fund reimbursements to buy land for parks, natural areas, greenways and to buy land for recreational facilities.
Read the full story
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation announced on Wednesday a series of new grants for localities “in the form of drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure grants.” The $232 million in grant funding will come from American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), also known as COVID Stimulus Package. Tennessee was originally given nearly $4 billion from the ARPA to combat the effects of COVID-19.
Governor Lee touted the announcement as a boon for local water districts. “These grants will address important water infrastructure needs for local communities across Tennessee. We look forward to the improvements these projects will bring, and we commend the communities who have gone through the application process,” he said in a statement.
Read the full story
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) announced on Tuesday that 12 grants totaling $34,585,121 from Tennessee’s American Rescue Plan, will be administered in the form of water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure grants.
“These grants will address important water infrastructure needs across our state, especially in disadvantaged communities. We commend communities who have gone through the application process, and we look forward to the substantial improvements the grant will bring,” said Governor Bill Lee.
Read the full story
This Saturday, October 8th, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s (TDEC) mobile household hazardous waste collection service will be in Cheatham and Marion counties.
Read the full story
State Representative Scott Cepicky and Senator Joey Hensley announced that requested the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) to hold off on plans to put a massive landfill in Maury County, Tennessee.
In a letter to the agency, State Representative Scott Cepicky stated, “Myself and others have concerns about the new permitting at the Monsanto land. It’s been almost 10 years since we fought the mega dump in Maury County. We must protect the duck river and our water source for southern middle Tennessee. Senator Hensley and myself have sent this letter to the TDEC asking for everything to slow down and perform town halls in Maury County to get the opinions of the locals. We will stay on top of this from the state level making sure everything in process is transparent.”
Read the full story
On Wednesday, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) Commissioner David Salyers announced that Greer Tidwell Jr. has been appointed to serve as deputy commissioner for the department’s Bureau of Parks and Conservation. This is Greer’s second experience working at TDEC.
Read the full story
Tennessee State Parks had an economic impact of $2.1 billion in Fiscal Year 2021, as the parks posted 38.5 million visits, according to a report done for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), the department announced Monday.
Read the full story
Five counties in Tennessee are ending vehicle emissions testing. The counties are five out of six total Tennessee counties that require emissions testing on vehicles. According to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) Commissioner David Salyers, “It’s a recognition of the improvement of our state’s air quality and demonstrates the diligence Tennesseans have shown toward achieving and maintaining this goal.”
Read the full story
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) officials announced Wednesday they have entered a partnership to install charging stations for Electric Vehicles (EVs) at all 56 state parks. But, when asked, TDEC officials would not discuss how or whether the demand for these charging stations exceeds any possible costs to the state or anyone else.
Read the full story
Former State Rep. Joe Carr, currently running for Rutherford County mayor, disclosed certain people accused him of harassment while he worked at a state agency, but he described the allegations as “a big nothingburger.” Carr addressed these allegations in a nearly 1,200 word post on Facebook Tuesday.
Read the full story
Officials with The Tennessee Valley Authority and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation announced Wednesday they will develop more electric car-charging stations in the state, at an anticipated cost of $20 million. TDEC and TVA officials said in a press release that to get the money they “will leverage various funding sources.”
Read the full story
Officials with the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation are scheduled to unveil a plan Wednesday to develop and fund more charging networks across the state to power electric vehicles. The Tennessee Star on Tuesday asked officials with both agencies if enough Tennessee residents are driving electric vehicles to justify investing public resources into this infrastructure.
Read the full story
Your pending vehicle emissions test can wait.
Read the full story
Officials with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation made headlines this week for hosting a swanky event where they hobnobbed with the special interests they’re supposed to regulate. But this is not the first time TDEC officials’ have allegedly used poor judgment when it comes to how they manage government resources and taxpayer money. The Tennessean recently reported about an after-hours meet up between TDEC regulators and representatives from the state’s chemical waste, and construction industries. The annual event is known as the Environmental Show of the South. The event is three days and consists of workshops and networking events. Members of these private industries pay for the venue, the food and prizes for TDEC employees, according to The Tennessean. Tennessee legislators and Republican Gov. Bill Lee are reportedly unhappy about the arrangement. Organizers held this year’s Environmental Show of the South in Chattanooga last month. But this is not the first time TDEC has made headlines for alleged mismanagement or abuse of taxpayer-funded resources. As The Tennessee Star reported the past several months: • TDEC booted deputy Brock Hill from his job after he allegedly sent a female state employee a series of reportedly disgusting texts. TDEC…
Read the full story
Members of the Rutherford County School Board are interested in building a school on farmland in the Walter Hill residential community, even though it’s near a landfill with a history of potential hazards. Multiple neighborhoods, businesses and churches surround the property, near the existing Walter Hill Elementary School, said Rutherford County School spokesman James Evans. “The land for the schools has undergone environmental and geotechnical testing and has been deemed suitable for school construction,” Evans said in an emailed statement. According to a 2011 Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation document, the landfill had aluminum waste deposited there between the 1990s and 2007. The landfill is on the north side of the East Stones River, one half mile east of Walter Hill and six miles north of Murfreesboro, according to the Consent Order between TDEC and BFI Waste Systems of Tennessee. In 2011, the document went on to say, this location had an apparent exothermic reaction, and that caused elevated temperatures. A series of piping was installed to draw off heat and pressure from the area. A hot void was discovered in the landfill. “The respondent has identified that aluminum waste within the Middle Point Landfill is undergoing an exothermic…
Read the full story
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation deputy who was booted from his job sent a female state employee a series of reportedly disgusting texts, according to the Nashville-based WSMV. TDEC investigated former deputy commissioner Brock Hill, but members of that agency reportedly would not disclose details to the station other than to say “the woman’s claims led them to find additional concerns about workplace misconduct.” State officials denied almost all WSMV’s open records requests, other than a series of text messages, reportedly between two unnamed state employees discussing how Hill’s texts had troubled a female employee. “In the texts, the first employee writes, ‘Would you want to know if Brock made an inappropriate comment to a (redacted name)?’” WSMV reported. “That employee later sent a text reading, ‘He has already been texting (name redacted) today and invited her to go camping with him out west.’ When the second employee asked if the woman can screen shot Hill’s texts, the first employee responded, ‘She has tons of them. She says they are awkward, but she plays along as if he was a friend.’” The first employee said the woman described the communication with Hill as ‘disgusting.’ The second employee responded…
Read the full story
Officials with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation reportedly removed a deputy commissioner this week after investigating alleged workplace misconduct, according to the Nashville-based WSMV. That now former deputy commissioner, Brock Hill, was a political appointee under former Republican Gov. Bill Haslam. Hill oversaw Tennessee’s 56 state parks and 85 state natural areas. Hill was also the Cumberland County mayor for 16 years, according to The Chattanooga Times Free Press. Neither WSMV nor The Times Free Press elaborated as to why officials removed Hill. Anne Marshall will serve as interim Deputy Commissioner of Parks and Conservation, WSMV reported. This is not the first time people have accused TDEC officials of misconduct on the job. As the Nashville-based FOX 17 and Tennessee Watchdog reported in 2014, then-TDEC Commissioner Bob Martineau chartered a plane to Athens to give a brief speech. But to travel there in a vehicle would take no more than three hours. That flight cost taxpayers $1,517 dollars. Also as Tennessee Watchdog reported that year, one of TDEC’s deputy directors, Britton Dotson, scolded water quality inspectors in an email for supposedly not paying attention to their jobs. “There are a number of staff that can’t get everything done…
Read the full story
Tennessee Gov.-elect Bill Lee on Tuesday announced three appointments to his Cabinet: for the Department of Transportation, the Department of Environment and Conservation and the Department of Human Resources. The new commissioners are: • Clay Bright – Department of Transportation • David Salyers – Department of Environment and Conservation • Juan Williams– Department of Human Resources “I am pleased to announce three additions to our cabinet who bring a high level of expertise and deep knowledge of our state,” Lee said in a statement. “I look forward to working closely with these appointments as we build forward-thinking solutions for Tennessee.” Lee has been busy filling Cabinet positions in the days leading up to his inauguration, which is Saturday. Last week he appointed Court of Appeals, Western Section Judge Brandon Gibson to serve as a Senior Advisor in the Office of the Governor. One Middle Tennessee business owner vouched for Salyers, saying, “He’s an excellent engineer who’s had mud on his boots and understands how things have to operate in the real world.” Salyers, of Madison County, serves as the executive director of the West Tennessee River Basin Authority, a division of the Department of Environment and Conservation, according to Lee’s website. Salyers…
Read the full story
Officials with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation did not prepare and submit permit efficiency reports for landowners the way they were supposed to, per a legislative directive. This, according to a Tennessee Comptroller’s Audit released this week. According to TDEC’s website, in 2012, members of the Tennessee General Assembly asked department officials to prepare two reports each year, in February and August, detailing the progress and efficiency of the environmental permit application process. Each report, the website went on to say, is composed of three topics, including land, air, and water permitting information, along with a summary. But members of TDEC’s management did not submit certain reports on time to the governor, members of the Tennessee General Assembly or to the public, as required, according to the audit. Since 2012, TDEC officials said they have had to produce more general reports that do not include detailed reasons for permit delays or individual processing times. Members of the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office say they studied those reports thoroughly. “Based on our review of the reports prepared during our audit period, the approximately 30-page reports consisted of mostly narrative information, along with a summary of numerical data,” auditors wrote. “The summary…
Read the full story
Federal taxpayers paid to send two Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation officials to China recently. The two employees who made the trip were TDEC’s Deputy of Engineering Services George Garden and Assistant Commissioner Dr. Kendra Abkowitz, said TDEC spokesman Eric Ward. Ward did not say when, exactly, they went. The pair went to China for a symposium on “food, water, and energy systems” to benefit Tennessee, Ward said. “They did so at no expense to TDEC – all meals, airfare and lodging were paid for by the National Science Foundation in the US and China,” Ward told The Tennessee Star in an email. The National Science Foundation is a federal agency with an annual budget of $7.8 billion, according to its website. The agency “is the major source of federal backing” for 27 percent of the total federal budget for research at U.S. colleges and universities, the website said. Ward directed questions about the two TDEC employees’ travel costs to the NSF. But, in an emailed statement, NSF spokeswoman Sarah Bates referred those questions back to TDEC. Bates did, however, provide a link showing this trip was one part of a $300,0000 grant to the University of Tennessee’s Institute…
Read the full story