Claims coal-fired plant polluted river: utility faces trial

Source: Associated Press

Claims coal-fired plant polluted river: utility faces trial

By JONATHAN MATTISE
Jan. 29, 2017 4:02 PM EST

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Environmental groups are taking the Tennessee Valley Authority to trial over waste ash from an aging coal-fired power plant northeast of Nashville, saying it polluted the Cumberland River in violation of the Clean Water Act.

In a bench trial starting Monday in federal court in Nashville, the Tennessee Clean Water Network and Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association say the pollution is due to the TVA's faulty storage of coal ash, a byproduct of burning coal for energy.

The nation's largest public utility, which powers 9 million customers in parts of seven Southern states, says it has abided by the law and hasn't sullied drinking water sources.

But the environmental groups contend coal ash storage ponds at the 1950s-era Gallatin Fossil Plant have been illegally seeping toxic pollutants into the groundwater and the Cumberland River for years. The groups also say in the lawsuit filed in 2015 that state regulators didn't require sufficient changes at the plant to safeguard against contamination, according to court documents.

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