TVA Kingston

Fossil Plant Coal

Fly Ash Slurry
Spill By –
AKSHAT JAIN
A245
70012000325
B.Tech IT 2nd Year
 Table Of Contents

01 02 03
Introduction Statistics Conclusion
• Response from TVA and •
• Background Regulation development
government officials • Cleanup
• Dike Breach and spill • Water quality and efforts •
• Effects Legal actions
to stop the spill
• Cause
• Coal ash issues
 01
Introduction
 Background
● The Kingston Fossil Plant is located on a peninsula at the junction of the
Emory River (to the north) and Clinch River (to the south and east), just over
4 miles (6.4 km) upstream from the latter's mouth along the Tennessee River.

● TVA had reportedly known about the dangers of using wet storage ponds for
coal ash since a 1969 spill in Virginia in which coal ash seeped into the
Clinch River and killed large numbers of fish. 

● Leaks at the Kingston ash ponds had reportedly been taking place since the
early 1980s, and local residents said that the spill was not a unique
occurrence. The 1960s-era pond had been observed leaking and being
repaired nearly every year since 2001.
 Events

Effects

Dike Breach and Cause

Spill
 Dike Breach and
●
Spill
The spill began sometime between midnight and 1 a.m. Eastern
Standard Time on December 22, 2008 when the dike surrounding
the ash containment dewatering pond broke. The breach occurred
at the northwest corner of the dewatering pond, overlooking the
Swan Pond Creek spillway.

● TVA and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initially

estimated that the spill released 1.7 million cubic yards (1.3
A collapsed house million m³) of sludge, which is gray in color.After an aerial survey,
inundated by the spill. the official estimate was more than tripled to 5.4 million cubic
yards (4 million m³) on December 25, 2008.

The confluence of the Clinch
and Emory Rivers, with the
Kingston Fossil Plant in the
distance, five days after the
spill.
Effects
● The spill covered surrounding land with up to six feet (1.8 m) of
sludge. Although the land surrounding the power plant is largely rural
rather than residential, the spill caused a mudflow wave of water and
ash that covered 12 homes, pushing one entirely off its foundation,
rendering three uninhabitable, and caused some damage to 42
residential properties. 
● It washed out a road,ruptured a major gasline, obstructed a rail line,
preventing a train delivering coal from reaching the plant, downed
trees, broke a water main, and destroyed power lines. Though 22
residences were evacuated, nobody was reported to be injured or in
need of hospitalization.
● The volume released was about 100 times larger than the 1989 Exxon
Valdez oil spill and about 10 times greater than the volume released in
the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, the largest oil spill in history.
 Cause
● Engineering firm AECOM was hired by TVA to investigate the cause
of the spill. A report released in June 2009 identified the main cause of
the spill as the result of slippage of an unstable layer of fine wet coal
ash underneath the pond.The report also identified other factors
including the terraced retaining walls on top of the wet ash, which
narrowed the area for storing the ash and in turn increased the pressure
exerted on the dike by the rising stacks.

● The Kingston Fossil Plant received a total of 6.48 inches (16.46 cm)

of rain between December 1 and December 22, plus 1.16 inches
(2.95 cm) on November 29 and 30.This rain combined with 12 °F
(−11 °C) temperatures were identified by TVA as factors that
contributed to the failure of the earthen embankment.
 02
Statistics
 Response from TVA and government
• The day after the spill, TVA released a statement acknowledging officials
the spill and apologizing for its damage to nearby homes. TVA
spokesman Gil Francis Jr. said that the TVA was "taking steps to
stabilize runoff from this incident." Residents and environmental
groups expressed concern that the fly ash slurry could become
more dangerous once it dried out. On January 1, 2009, the TVA
disseminated a fact sheet stating that the ash is "not hazardous.
• Tennessee governor Phil Bredesen toured the spill site on
December 31, 2008.
• The U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee,
which oversees the TVA, held a hearing on January 8 to examine
the disaster. Environmental activist Erin Brockovich visited the
site on January 8, 2009, and spoke with residents affected by the
spill.
 Water quality and efforts to stop the
•
spill
the EPA and Tennessee Department of Environment and
Conservation (TDEC) began testing the water quality of the area affected
by the spill.
•  A test of river water near the spill showed elevated levels
of lead and thallium, and "barely detectable" levels
of mercury and arsenic.
•  Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) indicated that
barriers would be constructed to stop the ash from reaching
the Tennessee River.
• In response to independent attempts at sampling of the water quality and
the taking of photos, the TVA illegally detained, for approximately one
hour, two members of the Knoxville-based environmental organization
United Mountain Defense who were traversing public land in the area of
the spill and warned three other individuals that any attempt to enter the
public waterway would lead to prosecution.
 Coal ash issues
• Chandra Taylor, stated that coal fly ash contains concentrated amounts of
mercury, arsenic, and benzene. She added, "These things are naturally
occurring, but they concentrate in the burning process and the residual is
more toxic than it starts."Nevertheless, due to pressure exerted in 2000
by utilities, the coal industry, and Clinton administration officials, fly ash is
not strictly regulated as a hazardous waste by the EPA.

• Thomas J. FitzGerald, the director of the environmental group Kentucky

Resources Council and an expert on coal waste, reported that the ash should
have been buried in lined landfills to prevent toxins leaching into the soil
and groundwater, as recommended in a 2006 EPA report, and stated that he
found it hard to believe that the State of Tennessee would have approved the
ash disposal sites at the plant as a permanent disposal site.
 03
Conclusion
 Regulation
development
The EPA published a Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) regulation in 2015. The
agency continued to classify coal ash as non-hazardous, thereby avoiding strict
permitting requirements under Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act (RCRA), but with new restrictions:

● Existing ash ponds that are contaminating groundwater must stop receiving
CCR, and close or retrofit with a liner.
● Existing ash ponds and landfills must comply with structural and location
restrictions, where applicable, or close.
● A pond no longer receiving CCR is still subject to all regulations unless it is
dewatered and covered by 2018.
● New ponds and landfills must include a geomembrane liner over a layer of
compacted soil.
 Cleanup
● The EPA first estimated that the spill would take four to six weeks to
clean up; however, Chandra Taylor, the staff attorney for the Southern
Environmental Law Center, said the cleanup could take months and
possibly years.

● During the first phase of the cleanup, known as the time-critical phase,
over 3.5 million cubic yards were removed within a year of the spill.
This phase allowed the removal of ash from the river to be accelerated
by 75% over original expectations. During this phase, the ash was safely
transported to a permanent, lined, and leachate collecting facility
in Perry County, Alabama called Arrowhead landfill.
 Legal actions
● On December 23, 2008 the environmental group Greenpeace asked for
a criminal investigation into the incident, focusing on whether the TVA
could have prevented the spill.
● On December 30, 2008 a group of landowners filed suit against the
TVA for $165 million in Tennessee state court.
● Also on December 30, 2008 the Southern Alliance for Clean
Energy announced its intention to sue the TVA under the federal Clean
Water Act (CWA) and RCRA.
● On February 4, 2009, the EPA and TDEC issued a letter to TVA in
which the EPA provided notice to TVA that they consider the release to
be an unpermitted discharge of a pollutant in violation of the CWA.
Thank
You