I have lost all faith in their air monitoring programs. If what me and Steve seen was with in normal ranges I would hate to see what is abnormal. This here needs to outrage anyone living in Roane County how can anyone trust this form of air monitoring? And TDEC from all that I have seen from them are backing TVA up all they way.

Randy Ellis
randyellis@gmail.com

THE TDEC is slepping with TVA and has been for awhile. The TDEC is always watching TVAs back and TVA watchs TDECs in return. They have been this way for many years.TDEC has no interest in what is safe for our breathing or our health. Only what is good for lining their pockets

Which goes to prove that many scientific measurements by a lot of institutions in the world are not worth a d...n compared to the eyes and noses of alert, aware and open-minded human people. I include the word "noses" here because our government paid a specialised firm to take scientific air samples from specimen-taking stations around our brand new 5,800 pig farm a few years ago and could not determine what everybody within miles around could confirm: IT STINKS!

Whatever the results of the testing, I am sure that we will be told that the TVA snow was at acceptable levels, and there is no reason to be alarmed. Keep in mind. We will be told what the test results were. We will not be shown the data.
So, when are we supposed to start trusting them again? We have heard, over and over, that TVA is going to do whatever it takes to gain our trust. Good luck with that. They haven't done anything yet. I honestly look forward to the day they do decide to take that first step.

It was fog. Move along now. Nothing to see here.

...why is it relevant that it fell on Chris Mason? I missed something. Didn't it fall on "several" of you?

Mushy

.. filter based measurement is still the 'gold standard' for particulate monitoring. There are arguments in the industry as to why and whether that makes sense (suffice it to say there is good money in private labs for filter processing).

While continuous PM monitors have been around for 10+ years, it was only about last year that the first continuous monitor obtained the mark of being equivalent to filter based method for evidential purposes (Federal Equivalent Method, or FEM). Before that, only the filter methods were considered reliable enough to be used for air quality attainment, CDC studies, etc.

When the first continuous monitors were available, should TVA have bought a few (at $15K a pop)? Would have been nice, but we still have state and local air monitoring agencies that don't get the funding to update their monitors. I don't think Knox Co. has any yet. If TVA had sought funding to buy them, I'm sure some congressman (cough, cough... duncan...cough, cough) would have called it a horrible waste and cut the funding. None of that hippie green stuff (BTW, the monitors are all built here in the United States, a nice manufacturing industry).

So, in short, you had TVA looking at the fact that they already had the 'gold standard' monitors, why spend the money for the new continuous monitors when even local agencies don't have that technology? To me, more blame lies with EPA funding and EPA's questionable historical embrace of filter-based monitors when a better technology has existed for years.

Also, keep in mind that the monitors reject non-inhalable particles that are > 10 microns. If you can see the snowflake, it is not measurable by a PM10 or PM2.5 monitor (they're a water/soil issue, not an air quality issue).

Didn't I hear TDEC say something different last night?

like "spikes"... at around 4:30 on that day????

have I totally lost it.... or did anyone else hear it.....

You heard it right. If it hadn't been for Randy and a few others, they would have gotten away with continuing the burn.