The Tennessee Valley Authority is seeking public input on a proposed new borrow site, which would open a 60+ acre project on TVA land at Kingston Fossil Plant in Harriman, where a massive coal ash spill happened in 2008.
The borrow site will provide material for current and future TVA projects, including a storage landfill for coal ash.
There are fewer than 10 days left for the public to comment on the proposal.
Recognizing it is an asset to the state, Dr. Manny Sethi, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, said he believes TVA needs more transparency to serve Tennessee best.
“East Tennesseans deserve transparency. I strongly encourage Tennesseans to make their voices heard by submitting a comment to the Tennessee Valley Authority regarding new plans for the Kingston Fossil Plant,” said Sethi.
Sethi submitted this comment to TVA:
It is important for the Tennessee Valley Authority to step forward and be responsive to questions that Tennesseans have about Kingston. After all the problems we have seen with mismanagement of facilities and clean up, it is imperative to get this right for the safety of Tennesseans.
East Tennesseans deserve transparency and detailed information from TVA as this process moves forward.
I believe that open meetings are an important part of transparency. I encourage TVA to open each of their meetings to the public. As Senator, I would follow the lead of the Tennessee Legislature in calling for TVA to have open meetings.
To submit a comment, go here. Comments can be submitted through Dec. 21.
Kingston Fossil Plant was the site of an ecological disaster on Dec. 22, 2008. A dike containing coal ash failed, releasing about 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash into the water. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency summarizes the Superfund cleanup here.
More recently, TVA has been cleaning out asbestos from near the plant, WRCB reported this week.
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Jason M. Reynolds has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist at outlets of all sizes.
Photo “Manny Sethi” by Manny Sethi.
I applaud the effort but good luck getting anywhere with it, Dr. Sethi! TVA is the gorilla in the room that most Tennesseans ignore or accept. TVA is a “swamp-based” quasi-governmental agency run by career bureaucrats that do whatever they want.
Yeah, “The Tennessee Valley Authority is seeking public input on a proposed new borrow site,” so they can use their Delphi Technique to report that all of the good little citizens are in lock step…
And what exactly is a “borrow” site? I’ve yet to see anybody ever put back what they “borrow”!