Here is a link to a video posted by the Chattanooga Times Free Press on the spill, stating the devastating impact it is having on the livestock and wild animals in the area:
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2009/jan/01/video-ash-spill-aftermath/
The environmental advocacy group, Appalachian Voices, undertook an evaluation of the river water near the spill, and found that the water contained from 2 to 300 times the level of chromium, lead, arsenic and other metals allowed for drinking water. The TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority), the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation reported higher than normal levels of these elements, but have not released the full results yet.
Appalachian Voices is based in Boone, NC. Their study used standard EPA testing methodologies, stated Shea Tuberty, an environmental toxicologist based at Appalachian State University, who assisted in the study. Another blow was landed on the TVA et al, by RFK Jr., who is the chairman of the national Waterkeeper Alliance. Read his remarks in the Chattanooga Times Free Press article.
To their credit, the TVA is attempting to address the spill on the main page of their website at www.tva.gov/, the EPA at http://www.epa.gov/region4/kingston/index.html and the TN Department of Environment & Conservation on their site at http://www.state.tn.us/environment/kingston/index.shtml.
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