Tennessee’s biggest coal ash site is polluting water. TVA plans to make it permanent

Tennessee’s largest coal ash site could become a permanent source of pollution near the Cumberland River.

The Tennessee Valley Authority has proposed capping an unlined storage site for coal ash at the Cumberland Fossil Plant in Stewart County, about 60 miles northwest of Nashville, instead of moving the material to a lined landfill. 

Improper coal ash storage is dangerous for people and the environment: Coal ash contains carcinogenic, radioactive and neurotoxic substances — like arsenic, radium, mercury and lead — that can harm people, animals, land and water. 

“TVA is a quasi-public utility, yet it acts with total disregard for protecting the health of the communities who pay for its electricity,” said Lisa Evans, an attorney with Earthjustice who specializes in hazardous waste law. 

The plan to close the coal ash site requires approval from the state: The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation will soon decide whether to approve it. State residents can submit comments on the proposal to TDEC online or by emailing [email protected] before Friday, May 15, at 4:30 p.m. Central. 

Coal ash exposure is linked to cancer, birth defects 

The Cumberland coal ash site contains multiple unlined pits and ponds that have or are actively leaching arsenic, boron, cobalt, lithium, molybdenum and sulfate into groundwater near the Cumberland River, according to monitoring data from TVA.

More: After Trump’s shakeup, TVA board votes to keep coal burning, drop renewable energy plans

The site contains at least 24 million cubic yards of coal ash, nearly double the size of the state’s next-largest coal ash site. 

Counties containing or adjacent to coal ash impoundments have higher cancer incidence rates compared to more distant counties, according to a study published this year in Environmental Geochemistry and Health by researchers at the University of Louisville. Coal ash exposure is also linked to brain damage, strokes, heart disease and birth defects, among other health ailments. 

TVA shared industry disinformation about the risks of coal ash at TDEC’s public hearing in Dover last month. 

“TVA is handing out propaganda that coal ash is as benign as dirt,” said Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. “Coal ash is not benign. It is hazardous.” 

Courtesy Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

Staff with the Tennessee Valley Authority handed out flyers with disinformation about coal ash at a public hearing run by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation in April.

TVA provided folks at the hearing with a packet containing about 30 pages of information about coal ash. The pages have various infographics with false or misleading statements such as “coal ash is not hazardous” and arsenic exposure is part of everyday life and “modern air pollution control technologies…reduce the potential human exposure to background levels.” One page compares the ash leftovers of burning coal for electricity to the ash remains of a campfire.

“The fact sheets referenced were developed to help advance public understanding using information and data from credible third-party sources, including federal and state agencies, scientific studies, and publicly available regulatory materials,” TVA spokesperson Scott Brooks said in an email. “The common narrative around coal ash is not rooted in reality or informed by the extensive science, monitoring, and regulatory oversight that govern its management today.”

Of all the utilities to understand the potential harms of coal ash, Smith said TVA should be top of the list. 

TVA is responsible for the worst industrial spill in history 

In 2008, about 1 billion gallons of coal ash slurry spilled from TVA’s Kingston Fossil Plant into the surrounding land and adjacent rivers. That’s a volume about 100 times larger than the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. 

Afterwards, about 900 workers came to Kingston to help clean up the mess and were told the coal ash was safe. 

Courtesy Brian Stansberry/Wikicommons

In 2008, about one billion gallons of coal ash slurry spilled from the Kingston Fossil Plant into the surrounding land and adjacent rivers.

Workers got sick with illnesses like lung disease and cancer, and the deaths of more than 50 people have now been tied to the cleanup of coal ash. Workers sued and won a jury verdict in 2018 that found Jacobs Engineering, the corporation hired by TVA to oversee the cleanup and recovery of profitable materials, had failed to protect the workers. 

The federal government reversed course on coal ash rules in April 

The U.S. contains coal ash dumps at more than 400 current or former coal power plant sites. More than 90% of the coal ash is contaminating water above federal standards for safe drinking water, according to industry data, which experts say could be an underestimate due to limited monitoring. 

In 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered coal plant owners to clean up hundreds of unlined sites and increase groundwater monitoring. After President Donald Trump took office, the industry lobbied the new administration to gut these rules. EPA proposed a rule last month to cut the regulations on the disposal and cleanup of coal ash. 

Tennessee has eight coal ash sites. TVA has more sites across its seven-state region.

TDEC has the authority to regulate coal ash in the state following a 2015 administrative order.  

After TDEC decides on the Cumberland Fossil Plant, the agency will also consider coal ash storage plans at the Kingston Fossil Plant and the Johnsonville Fossil Plant. The latter, located near Waverly, is contained in what is basically an “island” in the Tennessee River.