Source:
Gray TelevisionOn top of the noise and mess, the National Weather Service issued a flood watch for Roane County on Monday, which had residents worried about what more water could mean for the ash.
“We're just going to watch it,” Self said. “It's been puddling up back in the cove and they've been trying to dig a ditch to drain it. We're going to keep an eye on it tomorrow.”
To prepare for heavy rain storms, the TVA dug trenches and installed three water 12-inch water pumps that can move between 6,000 and 8,000 gallons of water a minute. They have also started “seeding” the ash to keep air quality safe, though heavy rain could cause a problem by washing it out.
. . .
There was more news on Monday when the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation started releasing the results of the water sampling tests it ran on more than 20 private wells near the ash spill.
"They do not show any violations of drinking water standards," said EPA Coordinator Steve Spurlin.
Read more:
http://www.volunteertv.com/news/headlines/37126899.html
Rain could cause a problem TVA worker says, but for PR purposes TVA announce rain won't worsen sludge.
Dumping arsenic and heavy metals in drinking water doesn't violate drinking water standards says the EPA. If mercury, arsenic and heavy metals doesn't, what does?
Another article
15 states appear to have three or more Tennessee-like unlined “Surface Impoundment” sites For toxic coal-fired power plant waste.The EIP data will identify coal ash disposal sites that have received the largest volume of arsenic, lead and additional toxic metals since 2000, when EPA decided not to regulate such sites under federal hazardous waste laws.
Some of the sites have disposed of more toxic substances than the coal ash retention pond for TVA’s Kingston Steam plant, which burst and covered the nearby area with more than a billion gallons of toxic laden sludge just before Christmas.
another article
Canoeing into the Tennessee Coal Sludge 4 days after the 1 billion gallon toxic coal ash spill in Harriman, TN.
I'm on the phone with Donna Lisenby, the Upper Watauga Riverkeeper in North Carolina, who was planning to travel to the TVA coal ash spill and collect water samples along the Emory River. I wanted to make sure she had connected with United Mountain Defense, an organization who was in the Harriman area taking water samples and talking with and providing drinking water to local residents.
She assured me she was and then offered me an opportunity I hadn't known I was looking for. She asked me if I wanted to go with her on the river. I paused and thought hard for a moment. It seemed like something tangible that I could do. And it seemed important to go.
So at 11 a.m. the next morning, I found myself paddling up the Emory River. We quickly discovered a sheer film on the water 2 miles from the spill site. As we made our way to ground zero, the damage became more apparent. We encountered numerous dead fish, and worried about the many blue herons we saw, hoping they weren't eating the fish, but knowing otherwise.
WATCH video of the canoeing at link