Waterkeeper Alliance Tennessee Riverkeeper
Citing ongoing coal waste contamination at Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)’s Colbert Fossil Plant, conservation groups have charged that the facility is violating the Clean Water Act and that failure to address these violations will result in a lawsuit. As outlined in the 60-day notice of intent letter sent to TVA, violations at the coal-burning facility have caused significant amounts of pollutants to be discharged illegally into Cane Creek, a tributary of the Tennessee River, as well as groundwater in the area.
The letter—submitted by the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of Tennessee Riverkeeper, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Shoals Environmental Alliance and Waterkeeper Alliance—details how seepage from the facility’s coal ash ponds contains arsenic, a toxic substance and known carcinogen, as well as selenium, lead, iron, cadmium and other pollutants.
“The Colbert Fossil Plant has had ongoing and persistent pollution problems from its coal ash ponds for decades,” said Keith Johnston, managing attorney for the Southern Environmental Law Center’s Birmingham office. “The only acceptable remedy is for TVA to stop this unpermitted discharge and to start storing all coal ash safely away from our waterways.”
Built in the 1950s, the aging Colbert plant is located on the Tennessee River and adjacent to one of its major tributaries, Cane Creek.
“Toxic metals in the seepage water negatively affects the health of the river and puts at risk the many fishermen, boaters, skiers and swimmers who use this area regularly, as well as those who depend on the river for their municipal drinking water supply,” said David Whiteside of the Tennessee Riverkeeper. “Citizens depend on a clean and healthy Tennessee River for drinking water, swimming, fishing and other recreational uses, as well as bringing in millions of dollars in recreational and tourism income throughout the Valley.”
The 60-day notice outlines ongoing surface and groundwater contamination from the Colbert Fossil Plant. TVA’s own documentation shows that its coal ash ponds and other waste impoundments have polluted the groundwater for almost thirty years, but despite TVA’s awareness of the contamination, it has continued to dispose and store the plant’s coal waste irresponsibly. In addition, Tennessee Riverkeeper has documented additional toxic discharges from the site flowing directly into Cane Creek.
The facility’s contamination originates from two coal ash ponds covering 127 acres total. The impoundments are unlined, meaning there is no barrier to prevent coal ash contaminants from reaching groundwater. And, indeed, documentation has confirmed seepage of arsenic and other pollutants through the sides and the bottoms of the ash ponds. At one location, sampling has shown arsenic levels that were more than fifty times Alabama’s Maximum Contaminant Level for arsenic.
Both the groundwater contamination and unpermitted surface water discharges constitute violations of the facility’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit and the Clean Water Act.
Donna Lisenby, the coal campaign coordinator for Waterkeeper Alliance said, “Since the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill in 2008, I have been working with Waterkeepers across the United States to document water pollution from coal-fired power plants. Two things make Colbert unique and distinguish it from hundreds of other coal ash ponds around the country. The first is that water tests results from Colbert’s unpermitted discharges have some of the highest levels of arsenic, lead, selenium, cadmium, chromium, boron, iron, manganese and molybdenum that we have seen anywhere in the southeast. The second is that TVA stored more than a million tons of coal waste in unlined ponds that were constructed on top of and adjacent to sink holes.”
“The contamination at Colbert is indicative of a broader problem across the Southeast, namely that utility regulators need to pay more attention to the problems posed and caused by these ill-maintained coal ash ponds,” said Ulla Reeves, regional program director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. “With TVA’s history of questionable coal ash management and in light of the Kingston coal ash disaster of 2008, we hope this notice will serve as another wake up call that TVA needs to clean up its act.”
Visit EcoWatch’s WATER and COAL ASH pages for more related news on this topic.
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In a new study, my colleagues Anisha Patel, Francesca Weaks and I estimate that approximately 61.4 million people in the U.S. did not drink their tap water as of 2017-2018. Our research, which was released in preprint format on April 8, 2021, and has not yet been peer reviewed, found that this number has grown sharply in the past several years.
Other research has shown that about 2 million Americans don't have access to clean water. Taking that into account, our findings suggest that about 59 million people have tap water access from either their municipality or private wells or cisterns, but don't drink it. While some may have contaminated water, others may be avoiding water that's actually safe.
Water insecurity is an underrecognized but growing problem in the U.S. Tap water distrust is part of the problem. And it's critical to understand what drives it, because people who don't trust their tap water shift to more expensive and often less healthy options, like bottled water or sugary drinks.
I'm a human biologist and have studied water and health for the past decade in places as diverse as Lowland Bolivia and northern Kenya. Now I run the Water, Health, and Nutrition Laboratory at Pennsylvania State University. To understand water issues, I talk to people and use large datasets to see whether a problem is unique or widespread, and stable or growing.
An Epidemic of Distrust
According to our research, there's a growing epidemic of tap water distrust and disuse in the U.S. In a 2020 study, anthropologist Sera Young and I found that tap water avoidance was declining before the Flint water crisis that began in 2014. In 2015-2016, however, it started to increase again for children.
Our new study found that in 2017-2018, the number of Americans who didn't drink tap water increased at an alarmingly high rate, particularly for Black and Hispanic adults and children. Since 2013-2014 – just before the Flint water crisis began – the prevalence of adults who do not drink their tap water has increased by 40%. Among children, not consuming tap has risen by 63%.
To calculate this change, we used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a nationally representative survey that releases data in two-year cycles. Sampling weights that use demographic characteristics ensure that the people being sampled are representative of the broader U.S. population.
Racial Disparities in Tap Water Consumption
Communities of color have long experienced environmental injustice across the U.S. Black, Hispanic and Native American residents are more likely to live in environmentally disadvantaged neighborhoods, with exposure to water that violates quality standards.
Our findings reflect these experiences. We calculated that Black and Hispanic children and adults are two to three times more likely to report not drinking their tap water than members of white households. In 2017-2018, roughly 3 out of 10 Black adults and children and nearly 4 of 10 Hispanic adults and children didn't drink their tap water. Approximately 2 of 10 Asian Americans didn't drink from their tap, while only 1 of 10 white Americans didn't drink their tap water.
When children don't drink any water on a given day, research shows that they consume twice as many calories from sugary drinks as children who drink water. Higher sugary drink consumption increases risk of cavities, obesity and cardiometabolic diseases. Drinking tap water provides fluoride, which lowers the risk of cavities. Relying on water alternatives is also much more expensive than drinking tap water.
A4: Choosing to drink fluoridated tap water over sugar-sweetened beverages to quench thirst is vital to protecting… https://t.co/3tm8wuWjeZ— Oral Health Watch (@Oral Health Watch)1600795750.0
What Erodes Trust
News reports – particularly high-visibility events like advisories to boil water – lead people to distrust their tap water even after the problem is fixed. For example, a 2019 study showed that water quality violations across the U.S. between 2006 and 2015 led to increases in bottled water purchases in affected counties as a way to avoid tap water, and purchase rates remained elevated after the violation.
The Flint water crisis drew national attention to water insecurity, even though state and federal regulators were slow to respond to residents' complaints there. Soon afterward, lead contamination was found in the water supply of Newark, New Jersey; the city is currently replacing all lead service lines under a legal settlement. Elsewhere, media outlets and advocacy groups have reported finding tap water samples contaminated with industrial chemicals, lead, arsenic and other contaminants.
Many other factors can cause people to distrust their water supply, including smell, taste and appearance, as well as lower income levels. Location is also an issue: Older U.S. cities with aging infrastructure are more prone to water shutoffs and water quality problems.
It's important not to blame people for distrusting what comes out of their tap, because those fears are rooted in history. In my view, addressing water insecurity requires a two-part strategy: ensuring that everyone has access to clean water, and increasing trust so people who have safe water will use it.
Chart: The Conversation / CC BY-ND. Source: AWWA / Morning Consult. Get the data
Building Confidence
As part of his proposed infrastructure plan, President Joe Biden is asking Congress for $111 billion to improve water delivery systems, replace lead pipelines and tackle other contaminants. The plan also proposes improvements for small water systems and underserved communities.
These are critical steps to rebuild trust. Yet, in my view, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should also provide better public education about water quality testing and targeted interventions for vulnerable populations, such as children and underserved communities. Initiatives to simplify and improve water quality reports can help people understand what's in their water and what they can do if they think something is wrong with it.
Chart: The Conversation / CC BY-ND. Source: AWWA / Morning Consult. Get the data
Who delivers those messages is important. In areas like Flint, where former government officials have been indicted on charges including negligence and perjury in connection with the water crisis, the government's word alone won't rebuild trust. Instead, community members can fill this critical role.
Another priority is the 13%-15% of Americans who rely on private well water, which is not regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act. These households are responsible for their own water quality testing. Public funding would help them test it regularly and address any problems.
Public distrust of tap water in the U.S. reflects decades of policies that have reduced access to reliable, safe drinking water in communities of color. Fixing water lines is important, but so is giving people confidence to turn on the tap.
Asher Rosinger is an assistant professor of biobehavioral health, anthropology, and demography and director of the Water, Health, and Nutrition Laboratory at Penn State University.
Disclosure statement: Asher Rosinger receives funding from the National Science Foundation on an unrelated project. This work was supported by the Ann Atherton Hertzler Early Career Professorship funds, and the Penn State Population Research Institute (NICHD P2CHD041025). The funders had no role in the research or interpretation of results.
Reposted with permission from The Conversation.
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