The Herald-News - News Story

Kingston ash going to Ala.: Athens, Tenn., landfill could also store some TVA sludge

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved the Tennessee Valley Authority's plan to transfer coal ash from the Emory River near the TVA Kingston removal site in Roane County to the Arrowhead Landfill in Perry County, Ala.

State environmental authorities, meanwhile, have granted TVA approval to use the Meadow Branch Landfill in Athens, Tenn., as a test site for coal ash dumping, although there are no plans to use the facility yet. Three other Tennessee landfills are also being eyed for test sites, according to the Associated Press and other published sources.

The EPA issued a statement Thursday stating that its approval requires that the coal ash from the Kingston site be disposed of in accordance with the most stringent protective disposal standards for municipal solid waste landfills.

The Arrowhead Landfill was selected because it meets and exceeds these standards, according to the EPA.

Opponents of the plan accuse TVA of unjust dumping on the people of a rural and mainly black county in Alabama, where U.S. Census statistics show 31 percent of families live in poverty, according to the Associated Press. The town where the landfill is located has about 1,600 residents, 88 percent of whom are black.

TVA identified potential disposal sites for disposal of approximately 3 million of the total 5.4 million cubic yards of ash spilled at the Kingston site, and submitted a disposal options analysis for EPA's review and approval.

TVA received 25 proposals from potential disposal sites and, of those, three sites accessible by rail and four sites accessible by truck in Alabama, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Tennessee met screening criteria and were evaluated.

Arrowhead Landfill is permitted to accept waste materials such as coal ash and has the capacity to accommodate the anticipated volume of material, according to an EPA statement.