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| Tuesday, February 9, 2010 |
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Uncertainty remains in TVA spill
Published January 13, 2009
How bad is it?
Environmental groups and concerned citizens want the answer to that question from TVA after a spill of coal ash waste at the Widows Creek Fossil Plant in Stevenson on Friday.
The discharge occurred when gypsum slurry, a byproduct of power production in a coal-powered boiler, escaped from an unused 30-inch standpipe allowing water and gypsum to drain into an adjacent retention pond at the facility causing it to overflow. The spill then drained into Widows Creek, a tributary of the Tennessee River. The utility reported the overflow was stopped soon after it was discovered at 6 a.m. during a routine inspection. Repair work to improve the settling system has apparently been ongoing around the clock.
TVA said initially that the spill was not toxic. Preliminary testing data received from an external laboratory throughout the weekend had not found any major problems. MicroBac labs reports indicated at least four samples taken from the Tennessee River met primary drinking water standards.
The utility Monday was awaiting results of additional samples taken from the area by ESC, another independent lab. The Environmental Protection Agency is also sampling water in the area and both agencies are providing information to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management.
“We haven’t found any problems,” Roy Light, Manager of the Scottsboro Water Sewer and Gas Board, said. “We are doing all of our testing and haven’t found anything.”
Light noted that the city system’s filtration system is designed to remove any residue and contaminants from the spill. He said results of EPA samples taken at the Scottsboro intake soon after the spill were negative. Additional samples were to be taken Monday.
Citizens and environmentalists have reported residue floating on top of the water. TVA claims the substance is cenospheres - inert, hollow balls of sand-like material. Cenospheres, which are about the same diameter as a human hair, are not harmful to the environment, according to TVA. The materials are used in manufacturing a variety of products such as cements, flooring, epoxy fillers, bowling balls and cosmetics.
Gypsum settling ponds allow water to be removed from the slurry mix. The gypsum settles and remains in the ponds before it is removed and sold for commercial uses. The water is regularly discharged into the Tennessee River at a monitored location.
TVA is using skimming booms to contain the cenospheres on the water surface and vacuum trucks on barges remove the substance from the water. Backhoes and hand tools are also being used in the process.
The utility and EPA immediately notified local water companies of the accident and regularly provides each with new information as it is received. Stevenson is the closest municipality affected but it does not withdraw water directly from the Tennessee River.
Light said the local water board has been in regular contact with TVA, the EPA and ADEM since being notified of the spill early Friday morning.
“They told us then they were not assuming it was anything harmful. We will continue to watch it, take extra samples and monitor the situation,” Light said.
TVA asks citizens who observe cenospheres accumulating in the water near their home to contact the TVA information line at 865-717-4006.
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