Emergency Public meeting called to address Ash Spill Concerns
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Updated: 3:23 PM Dec 28, 2008
Emergency Public meeting called to address Ash Spill Concerns
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- A flood of concerns about TVA's ash spill has Kingston City council doing damage control of its own.
Posted: 2:57 PM Dec 28, 2008
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- A flood of concerns about TVA's ash spill has Kingston City council doing damage control of its own.

An emergency public meeting called for tomorrow afternoon.

The clean-up continues around the clock, so do homeowners concerns.

Every step....brings more disbelief for Kingston resident Lori Browder.

"That's not supposed to look like that. I've lived her my whole life and I've never seen anything like that," Bowder states.

Like the grime still coating parts of Bowder's favorite walking spot, the Clinch River....just downstream from TVA's Kingston Fossil Plant

TVA says an ash spill spewed nearly 5.5 million cubic yards of coal ash and water from a retention pond Monday.

This filth flowed with it.

"It's a bi-product of the coal burning process called cenosphere, and that material's inert," TVA spokesperson Barbara Martocci says.

So TVA says it's not harmful.

TVA put booms in the Clinch and Emory Rivers to try and keep the materials from getting further.

But Browder's still worried about.

"My water. My drinking water. They say it's safe but I don't know if I believe that or not," Browder remarks.

"Our citizens have expressed concerns," Kingston City Councilman, Brant Williams says.

That's why Williams initiated an emergency city council meeting for tomorrow.

"We're encountering a situation of such magnitude that we really don't understand yet. Before this, this hasn't happened. Our scientists tell us what they think might be going on, but we don't know," he says.

TVA, state, and federal agencies have monitored the water this week.

TVA says samples closest to the Kingston Water Treatment plant meet public health standards.

But samples from the spill site found poisonous metals lead and thallium above the regulatory level.

"We welcome the opportunity to come and talk to the city of Kingston. We will be happy to address any concerns that we can," Martocci comments.

Browder plans to share hers.

"I want some reassurance that stuff is going to be cleaned up," she says.

So she says her walk, or worse her life, won't suffer in the future.

The meeting's set for 4:30 tomorrow afternoon at the Kingston Community Center.

Council members plan to give time to anyone who wants to share concerns.

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation has installed an underwater dam in the Emory River.

TDEC says should capture ash that sinks below the booms.

The City of Kingston also started 24-hour heavy metal testing today.


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