This Saturday marks 10 years since the tragic coal ash spill in Roane County, Tennessee. On Dec. 22, 2008, the impoundment at the TVA Kingston coal plant failed, releasing 1 billion gallons of toxic coal ash onto 300 acres of land and into the Emory and Clinch rivers. While it’s been 10 years, the threats posed by toxic coal ash to our families remain just as serious, both in Tennessee, where I grew up, and across the nation.
Only recently did the workers who helped clean up that toxic mess in Tennessee receive a judgment that they can seek damages for being told by supervisors to work without protection:
More than 30 workers who cleaned up the December 2008 spill at the Tennessee Valley Authority Kingston Fossil Fuel Power Plant in Roane County are dead, and more than 250 others are sick or dying.
The stories that came out of that trial were horrifying -- workers were prohibited from wearing breathing masks and other protective gear and were told by bosses that they could eat a pound of coal ash a day without harm. My heart breaks for the families who lost a loved one due to illness caused by cleaning up the TVA coal ash spill, and for the hundreds who were sickened by it and continue to struggle today.
