December, 21 2011, 09:20am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Aaron Sarver, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, 865.235.1448, aaron@cleanenergy.org
Jared Saylor, Earthjustice, 202.745.5213, jsaylor@earthjustice.org
Abel Russ, Environmental Integrity Project, 202.263.4453, aruss@environmentalintegrity.org
Renee Hoyos, Tennessee Clean Water Network, 865.522.7007 ext.100, renee@tcwn.org
Additional TVA Coal Ash Ponds May Pose Same Threat as Kingston
Hydro-geological report says ash pond constructed with unstable coal waste
NEW JOHNSONVILLE, TN
A number of the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) risky coal ash waste impoundments were built using coal ash as a construction material, much like the failed pond at TVA's Kingston plant. Today, just days before the 3-year anniversary of the devastating coal ash spill in Kingston, TN, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE), Tennessee Clean Water Network (TCWN), Earthjustice and Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) together submitted a letter to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) in which they highlighted the findings of a new report by an expert hydrogeologist. That report closely scrutinized the history and construction of "Ash Island," the impoundment that holds toxic coal ash waste from TVA's Johnsonville coal plant. The report also found that Johnsonville's Ash Island was partially constructed using coal ash.
Following the December 2008 Kingston disaster, engineering reports demonstrated that degraded ash inside the Kingston dikes contributed to the catastrophic failure there. When initially used in dike construction, coal ash has properties similar to earthen material. However, when exposed to water over long periods of time the cohesion of ash will degrade, leading to weakened structural integrity of the coal ash pond and possible failure. This is the scenario that occurred at TVA's Kingston plant.
"The dangerous conditions behind the Kingston disaster were not isolated. TVA has constructed other waste ponds using coal ash as a building material. Knowing this, TVA must move quickly to close these coal ash ponds and TDEC needs to make sure the closure is done safely," said Josh Galperin with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. "On the third anniversary of the Kingston disaster we call on TVA and TDEC to ensure the disaster isn't repeated."
On October 31, a bluff in Oak Creek, Wisc.--which supported a coal ash pond for We Energies' Oak Creek Power Plant--collapsed into Lake Michigan. Upon further investigation regulators from Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources explained that the bluff itself was constructed using coal ash and that water leaking into the bluff over the past half century likely caused the failure.
TVA is in the early stages of closing all of its wet coal ash ponds as it transitions to dry ash management. SACE, TCWN, Earthjustice and EIP have been investigating TVA's plan for the Johnsonville Ash Island and in the process of that investigation, discovered that the pond, like Kingston, was constructed with ash. The impoundment at TVA's Colbert plant in northwest Alabama also uses ash as a construction material. Given that at least three ponds have used this dangerous method it is likely that the problem is more widespread.
"TVA has a long history of building dikes with coal ash, and as we now know from the Kingston disaster, ash is not durable building material," said Abigail Dillen, Coal Program Director at Earthjustice. "TVA needs to move quickly to safely close down Ash Island and many other ash dumps that are ticking time bombs."
In addition to the discovery that TVA used ash in dike construction, the groups' investigation further concluded that TVA's Johnsonville pond closure plan does not fully address this construction problem in order to prevent future disasters.
While the groups have submitted a letter to TDEC requesting that TDEC address these risks, there is no formal process for public input into the TVA pond closure plans, meaning there is no guarantee that TDEC or TVA will consider and respond to public concerns. Allowing TVA and TDEC to privately negotiate plans for dozens of wet ash ponds will not sufficiently safeguard the public interest in safe closure.
"It is too bad there is no public process established to vet the pond closure plans in light of the Kingston disaster," said Renee Victoria Hoyos, executive director of the Tennessee Clean Water Network. "We hope that TDEC will do the right thing and open these plans for public scrutiny. As our letter points out, TDEC must address these ponds as both a water and solid waste issue to ensure that surface and groundwater are protected from pollution that will more than likely come from these ponds once they are closed."
Earthjustice is a non-profit public interest law firm dedicated to protecting the magnificent places, natural resources, and wildlife of this earth, and to defending the right of all people to a healthy environment. We bring about far-reaching change by enforcing and strengthening environmental laws on behalf of hundreds of organizations, coalitions and communities.
800-584-6460LATEST NEWS
After Latest US Execution, Progressives Say 'Abolish the Death Penalty'
"The use of the death penalty in the United States is one of the ugliest stains on our broken criminal justice system," said Congresswoman Barbara Lee.
Sep 25, 2024
Amid a wave of executions in Republican-led states—including Tuesday's lethal injection of Marcellus Williams in Missouri—progressive U.S. lawmakers and groups renewed calls to "abolish the death penalty."
Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) were among those who took to social media to demand an end to capital punishment following Williams' execution.
"The use of the death penalty in the United States is one of the ugliest stains on our broken criminal justice system," said Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.). "It is disproportionately imposed against poor people and people of color. We must abolish it once and for all."
Williams, 55, was killed by the state of Missouri via lethal injection—a method known for botched executions—despite serious doubts about his guilt. The office that prosecuted him sought to have his murder conviction overturned and members of the victim's family pleaded for clemency.
"Sometimes injustice is so glaring that it leaves us struggling to comprehend how such events could happen in the first place," Bush said in a statement released after Williams' execution.
The congresswoman continued:
The deadly decision to execute Williams came despite urgent pleas from Missourians and people all across the country... who called for clemency. Gov. Mike Parson didn't just ignore these pleas and end Williams' life, he demonstrated how the death penalty is wielded without regard for innocence, compassion, equity, or humanity. He showed us how the standard of "beyond a reasonable doubt" can be applied selectively, depending on who stands accused and who stands in power.
"The state of Missouri and our nation's legal system failed Marcellus Williams, and as long as we uphold the death penalty, we continue to perpetuate this depravity—where an innocent person can be killed in the name of justice," Bush stressed. "We have a moral imperative to abolish this racist and inhumane practice, and to work towards building a just legal system that values humanity and compassion over criminalization and violence."
"Rest in power, Marcellus Williams," she added.
Williams wasn't the only one executed on Tuesday. Travis Mullis—a 38-year-old autistic man who murdered his infant son—was killed by lethal injection in Texas after waiving his right to appeal.
Last week, South Carolina executed Freddie Owens by lethal injection after Republican state Attorney General Alan Wilson brushed off a key prosecution witness' bombshell claim that the convicted man did not commit the murder for which his life was taken.
Although the number of U.S. executions has been steadily decreasing from 85 in 2000 to 24 last year, there is currently a surge in state killings, with five more people set to be put to death in three states by October 17.
On Thursday, Alabama is scheduled to kill Alan Eugene Miller using nitrogen gas, despite the inmate suffering severe mental illness. Miller was meant to be put to death in 2022; however, prison staff could not find a vein in which to inject the lethal cocktail and his execution was postponed.
That same day, Emmanuel Antonio Littlejohn is set to be executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma, even after the state's Pardon and Parole Board voted to recommend clemency.
According to a 2014 study, over 4% of people on U.S. death rows did not commit the crime for which they were condemned. The Death Penalty Information Center found that since 1973, at least 200 people who were wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in the U.S. have been exonerated.
"The only way to eliminate the possibility of executing an innocent person is to do away with the death penalty altogether," the advocacy group Human Rights First said Wednesday.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Rights Group Condemns Texas National Guard for Firing Pepper Balls at Migrants
"In separate incidents this summer, witnesses saw Texas National Guard members firing pepper-spray projectiles at migrants who posed no risk to National Guard members or anyone else."
Sep 25, 2024
Human Rights Watch on Wednesday condemned the Texas National Guard for firing pepper-spray projectiles at migrants, including women and children, who've presented no danger, citing multiple recent incidents.
"In separate incidents this summer, witnesses saw Texas National Guard members firing pepper-spray projectiles at migrants who posed no risk to National Guard members or anyone else," Bob Libal, an HRW consultant, said in a statement.
New from @HRW and me: The TX Nat'l Guard has repeatedly fired pepper spray projectiles at arriving asylum-seekers, including women & children.
#TXLege should increase oversight of TX Military Dept & deny funding requests until this practice ends. 🧵https://t.co/AuXyAGcFbO
— Bob Libal (@blibal) September 25, 2024
Pepper-spray projectiles, which are often shaped like balls, contain chemical irritants similar to pepper spray. HRW documented several instances of their use by the Texas National Guard, which polices the border as part of Operation Lone Star, a right-wing state project that has already cost more than $11 billion and drawn opposition from rights advocates.
On September 7, a Texas National Guard member in a boat fired several projectiles at a migrant who had crossed onto the U.S. side of the Rio Grande, at Eagle Pass, Texas, according to three witnesses who watched from a park in Mexico. The migrant fell down, did not get up, and didn't receive aid, they told HRW.
"I saw a National Guardsman in the boat train his gun on the man and then he pepper balled him," said Josie Rodrigues, one of the witnesses, who is a resident of Eagle Pass. "He shot him four or five times. I saw the puffs of smoke and the man went down, and he didn't get up again. It looked to me like they were aiming at the person, not around him or at his feet. It was disturbing."
On August 5, a group of migrants, including children, alleged that projectiles were fired at them, causing their eyes to burn; U.S. Border Patrol said that the Texas National Guard was in control of the area where the incident occurred, according to HRW.
The Texas National Guard also fired pepper balls at a Venezuelan couple and their 1-year-old daughter in May, Newsweekreported, based on video from Border Report.
International human rights law has strict rules on the use of force—even sublethal force, as the projectiles are designed to be—by law enforcement.
"Chemical irritants should only be deployed where a law enforcement official has reason to believe there is an imminent threat of injury," according to United Nations' guidance.
HRW is calling for the state Legislature to deny additional funding to the Texas Military Department, which oversees the state's National Guard, until the use of projectiles against migrants ends. The funding was on the agenda at a budget meeting on Wednesday.
"The Texas Legislature should respond by increasing its oversight over the Texas Military Department and denying funding increases to the department until these abuses stop," Lidal said.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Working-Class Independent Dan Osborn Giving GOP Senator Run for Her Money in Nebraska
New polling suggests that "a willingness to take on millionaires, billionaires, and the politicians who serve them plays well everywhere," said one columnist.
Sep 25, 2024
Dan Osborn, a mechanic and union leader running to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer in Nebraska, told an Omaha news station on Tuesday that recent polling showing a highly competitive race didn't come as a surprise to him.
"It's what I'm seeing on the ground," he toldKETV of a Survey USA poll showing 45% of respondents supporting him, compared with 44% backing Fischer. "People, I think, are ready for a change."
Osborn describes himself as a "lifelong Independent," and has not sought or accepted endorsements from either major political party.
He does have the backing of the United Auto Workers, which said in June, "It's time for labor to get behind candidates who look like us, talk like us, and know the issues facing working-class people."
Osborn began working as an industrial mechanic for a Kellogg's plant in 2004, and eventually rose to the presidency of his union local, Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers (BCTGM) Local 50G.
In that role in 2021, he led 500 of his co-workers at the cereal plant in a work stoppage that lasted 77 days, with workers protesting a two-tier hiring system that left new employees with lower pay and no pensions and demanding fair working schedules and pay.
The strike forced the company to agree to cost-of-living raises, no plant closures through 2026, and no permanent two-tier system.
"I've gone up against a major American corporation," Osborn toldThe New York Times in February. "I stood up for what I thought was right, and I won."
The Fischer campaign and its supporters have taken notice of the senator's opponent as multiple polls have shown the two candidates neck-and-neck. Last month, Fischer was up by just one point, with 23% undecided.
Conservative super political action committee Heartland Resurgence has spent $479,000 in a new ad campaign opposing Osborn, repeating the same false claims about his support for abortion care as those Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump made at his debate against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris earlier this month: that Osborn "supports abortion until the moment of birth."
Osborn told the independent rural news outlet Barn Raiser in March that he believes "a woman's decision on whether or not to have an abortion is between her and her doctor, it's not the federal government's place to dictate those things to people. Deb Fischer believes in a complete abortion ban. I strongly disagree with that position."
In an ad released this week, Osborn is seen next to a stand-in for Fischer, who wears a blazer decorated with the logos of some of her major corporate donors: Northrop Grumman, which has given her $64,827 over her career; Union Pacific Corp., which has donated $141,651; and Goldman Sachs, which has donated $18,200 this election cycle.
Osborn says in the ad that the Senate is made up of "millionaires controlled by billionaires."
"Deb Fischer is part of the problem," he says. "She's taken so much corporate cash she should wear patches."
Columnist John Nichols said the latest poll numbers in Nebraska suggest "that a willingness to take on millionaires, billionaires, and the politicians who serve them plays well everywhere."
Pro-worker media organization More Perfect Unionpointed to earlier polling in July that showed Osborn and Fischer tied 42-42.
"Fifty-seven percent of the state's GOP voters say they're open to voting for an Independent," the outlet reported. "Osborn, a long-time union worker, could kick a Republican out of the Senate."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular