SouthWings Flys Over Tennessee’s TVA Caused Tragedy
Jan 12th, 2009 by admin
On Christmas Day SouthWings flew with Appalachian Voices to look at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s fly ash dam break that occurred on Monday, 12.22.08 in Roane County, Tennessee. The dam failure occurred at the Kingston Fossil Plant. See more photos featured from the SouthWings’ flights by Dorothy Griffith or John Wathen. Since then SouthWings has been active in flying this tragedy with several groups to assist with fully understanding the impacts and ramifications of this disaster. For more information please visit Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and United Mountain Defense, I Love Mountains, and Greenpeace. photo: Dot Griffith flight: Appalachian Voices
Our hearts go out to those suffering. Truly this disaster underpins the need for urgent examination of the nation’s policy on coal. Not only do we have issues with storing waste generated from burning coal, a potential similar scenario may exist with the numerous coal sludge impoundments used to store waste from washing coal. Sludge impoundments, like that above Marsh Fork Elementary School featured in the photo below, are often perched at the tops of mountains in West Virginia. If the earthen dam holding back the waste slurry were to break, billions of gallons of the slurry would head down to the valley below. Read more here: Marsh Fork Elementary School in West Virginia.
Please get involved in creating a sustainable future – educate yourself about issues related to coal and where your electricity comes from, do what you can to conserve energy, insist upon sustainable alternatives to coal and participate in the democratic process and discussion on the issue.
