Mon
Jan 25 2010
07:47 am
Emory River hits 60,000 Cubic Feet per Second
By: WhitesCreek

This is the second highest flow since De. 22, 2008. The first high water event was on May 4, 2009 and flushed between (we think)150,000 and 250,000 cubic yards of ash past the newly constructed weirs and into the lower Emory, Clinch and Tennessee rivers. Water quality was not sampled by either TVA, EPA, or TDEC during that time.

These agencies have repeatedly failed to sample during high water events despite their promises to do so, failed to note this in their published data, and yet have continued to make the claim that their data shows safe levels of contaminants in the rivers. After constant and insistant urging from the Community Advisory Group (CAG) TVA has responded by obtaining a remote programmable sampling unit that is supposed to take samples at approximately mile 0.4 on the Emory River. The CAG will meet with these agencies tonight. The CAG will be at the TVA, EPA, and TDEC public meeting at Roane County High School Tuesday night.

Thanks!

Submitted by LISAinTN on January 25, 2010 - 8:39am.

Thanks TVA for the 30' wide band of ash and crap (that is continuing to build by the minute) around the back of my cove and our neighbor's cove this morning! (16 miles downriver!!!!) I'm sure your continued gift of ash will make our home even more desirable to any potential buyers that drive by this week!! Now I'm off to take more photos again to document this crap.

But TVA says you are "not

Submitted by WhitesCreek on January 25, 2010 - 9:07am.

But TVA says you are "not affected". They've damaged the marketability of your home but will not seem to come to grips in any honest fashion and deal with you rationally.

Grrrrr!

Submitted by LISAinTN on January 25, 2010 - 12:03pm.

I don't think there are any rational people working in TVA management. Or at least not any that care about human beings. There is no telling how many possible potential buyers we missed out on last summer when this all started at the beginning of May. For weeks on end people would drive by and see barges and hundreds of garbage bags and workers in orange vests. Just ONE of those people that drove away when they saw that could have been the ONE person that bought this home. Now it's starting all over again and it's only January. We laid low over the holiday months because I vowed that TVA and their BS would not ruin my holidays, but apparently I need to go on a media hunting crusade again. We had someone come and look at our house last Friday. Now what happens if they ask to come back for a second look today? Or tomorrow?

Hey WC I have two requests for the CAG

Submitted by Crappieman on January 25, 2010 - 6:37pm.

1. Ask TVA why they placed surface booms all the way down the shoreline by the gypsum pond last night and today. They placed what looks like 1/2 mile of surface booms across the river from my house and adjacent to the gypsum pond.

2. Demand that TVA provide sampling results for the "harmless pollen" they have been vacuuming up via their vacuum barges. These barges have been operating non stop since the ash spill and as far downstream as the dam. I want to know what the chemical composition of this crap really is.

Last summer and fall I talked to Lincoln Davis about the crap that daily is visible at my dock floating on the water. TVA had the Army Corps of Engineers come out and do some sporadic sampling ironically on the few days where there was no apparent stuff in the water and the water was very calm with minimal current. They sent me a report that stated their testing showed no evidence of anything harmful and what "appeared to be pollen". I know the difference between pollen and cenospheres and have spent enough time on the river to what is usually there and what is not. Most of the law firms have conducted testing of this surface crap and it clearly shows high levels of heavy metals. Surely TVA has performed some testing of their vacuum barges and I'm sure the CAG would like to know what these results show.

Also, has there been any new sonar maps released to the public?

C man

Submitted by WhitesCreek on January 25, 2010 - 8:30pm.

The sonar maps are posted on the EPA website but you have to search for them using the term "bathymetry". I'll try to get you direct links but after this weekend I think all of this will have changed.

Sampling at appropriate times is an ongoing problem that the CAG has actually gotten in near shouting matches with all of the acronyms EPA, TVA, TDEC, etc.)over. All I can say is, "We'll see."

The booms at the Gypsum pond is a new one to me. We'll ask and see what we get. Most of the time the booms are after cenospheres, though. The stuff in the gypsum pond wouldn't get trapped by a floating boom. My guess is that they are trying a new configuration of booms trying to catch more cenospheres before they wind up at Lisa's place where they mostly seem to go.

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