Tennessee's Toxic Nightmare: Arsenic Levels 35 to 300 Times EPA Standard for Drinking Water

Just-released independent water sampling data from the Tennessee coal ash disaster has shown alarmingly high levels of arsenic and seven other heavy metals, including cadmium, chromium, lead, mercury and thallium.

"I've never seen levels this high," said Dr. Shea Tuberty, Assistant Professor of Biology at the Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Lab at Appalachian State University. "These levels would knock out fish reproduction ... the ecosystems around Kingston and Harriman are going t...

Water Quality Tests from Kingston Coal Disaster

United Mountain Defense has stated that unlike TVA we will be as transparent as possible and make our methods and test available to the residents whose lives have been impacted first-- rather than forth or fifth-- as they have been treated by TVA. 

We do wonder though why it is a tiny non profit like ours can round up new samples, get data (with a lot of help from friends) and make it quickly available to the general p...

Kingston Coal Disaster Diary, December 30-31

Matt Landon, full-time volunteer for United Mountain Defense, is reporting from the ground in Harriman, TN.  Because of his chaotic schedule, we've just received a batch of diary posts from the past week, which we'll be re-publishing in chronological order. Beginning December 30th with the post below.  It's a startling first hand account of the citizen response to this ecological and public health crisis.  

December 30th

United Mountain Defense volunteers collected samples of well water ...

Level Heads in the Face of Dirty Disaster

Headlines that start with hyperbole (Radioactive![Not] Much Worse than Thought![Not]) are as misleading and as wrong as the local Chamber of Commerce saying "There's no problem here."

There is a sorry trail of lax oversight, poor management, and misplaced compensation incentives from the TVA Board over many years that led to this disaster. The blame for this event can be laid squarely at the feet of TVA's corporate mindset, the anti-environment Bush Administration, his appointed TVA Directors,...

Comments (0)  |  January 6, 2009  |  By Whites Creek

Utilities Suggest Huge Electric Vehicle Orders

Utilities are among the groups now considering mass orders of electric vehicles from the U.S. automobile manufacturing sector, to help the auto companies make the biggest manufacturing realignment since since WWII.

The exploratory discussions are being conducted at top levels and among firms like PG&E who see plug in hybrid and all electric vehicles as a solution to uneven grid loads. Utilities have invested a great deal of research using the vehicle to grid (V2G) capabilities of plugged in...

Comments (0)  |  January 6, 2009  |  By Susan Kraemer

Full Video of the Aftermath of the Tennessee Coal Ash Spill

Two days after Christmas, an intrepid trio over community activists paddled up the Clinch and Emory Rivers to record the conditions and take water samples.  Joining forces were Sandra Diaz, National Field Coordinator for Appalachian Voices, the Hurricane Creekeeper John Wathen, and Watauga Riverkeeper Donna Lisenby.  Here's some video of their brave voyage:

 From what I understand, the water samples recovered on this mission are the ones that were subsequently tested by Appalachian State Un...

Comments (0)  |  January 6, 2009  |  By Ben Jervey