Heavy Security at the Arrowhead Landfill
July 26th, 2009TVA Coal Ash Comes to Alabama’s Black Belt
An off duty Uniontown Police officer, with his town cruiser and air conditioner running full blast on a hot July day, guards the entrance to the Arrowhead Landfill in poor Perry County in Alabama’s Black Belt where TVA is shipping its toxic coal ash from the massive spill in Kingston, Tennessee back in December. After a day trip there on Saturday with John Wathen, the Hurricane Creek Keeper and with TheDirtyLie.com, we are working up a full report on the latest environmental injustice to result from the biggest ecological disaster of its kind in American history.
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Tags: Heavy Security at the Arrowhead Landfill, Perry County, TVA Coal Ash Comes to Alabama's Black Belt, Uniontown
July 27th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Since no one else has commented on this, and after respectfully waiting more than a day, here goes.
The ash has to go somewhere. Or, more appropriately, something has to be done with it. Human lives in Alabama are just as valuable as human lives in Tennessee, so why should the ash go here and not there?
If that is the standard then, the ash should not go anywhere before it is detoxified. I am not a scientist, so I don’t know if that is possible, but I venture to guess that some process will at least make it less toxic. Then, maybe, it can go in one of those very deep old mine shafts somewhere?
There is supreme irony in this because originally, at least, TVA was supposed to generate 100% hydroelectric power, i.e., no coal or oil, just water driven turbines. Or at least I think that was the idea.
Here we are 70 years later and the TVA bureaucrats are trying to figure out where they can dump toxic coal waste with the least amount of political fallout.
Reminds me of Hugh Laurie’s lament that when a British animator was looking for an actor to voice the role of a cockroach, Laurie was the first name that came to mind.
Likewise, Alabama was probably the first place that came to mind at that Monday morning meeting at TVA where they were wondering where the toxic mess should be dumped.
July 27th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
There’s not much to comment on yet, since this is just a feature photo from the trip and a heads up that a story is in the works…
July 28th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Looking forward to the story. Love the teaser.