WASHINGTON DC (WVLT) – Three weeks after sludge from a TVA power plant burst from a retention pond and covered a Roane County community; one top lawmaker is calling on stricter regulation of the nation’s retention ponds.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) announced on Monday that she will ask the Environmental Protection Agency to take a greater role in regulating retention ponds. Her office says the EPA already has authority to do so under the current laws, and it will not require passage of new legislation.

A spokesman for Boxer also confirmed that she will request the stricter regulations at a confirmation hearing for the new EPA administrator on Jan 13th.