We will be discussing the Tennessee TVA coal ash disaster and our response, as well as planning the MJ Summer Camp which will also be at Camp Blanton in May. Come check out this beautiful camp in the Kentucky mountains!
Preliminary testing was conducted on samples from the Emory River by scientists working in coordination with Appalachian Voices and the Waterkeeper Alliance's Upper Watauga Riverkeeper Program.
Concentrations of eight toxic chemicals range from twice to 300 times higher than drinking water limits, according to scientists with Appalachian State University who conducted the tests.
12/31/08: UMD Update from TN posted January 1, 2009 This holiday season has been like one I have never experienced. Today is New Year’s Eve and as people drink themselves into stupors United Mountain Defense volunteers are working tirelessly to help the people of Harriman, TN. This morning United Mountain Defense full time volunteer staff person, Matt Landon gave a 15 minute interview on Democracy Now. United Mountain Defense has been on the ground since day 1 to share the real story with the world and will continue to do so. Early this morning we had an overly enthusiastic water monitoring volunteer who set out to gather another round of water and coal sludge samples and was detained by local police and verbally warned not to enter the area again or risk arrest.
12/30/08: UMD Update from TN posted January 1, 2009 United Mountain Defense volunteers collected samples of well water and spring water from Swan Pond Rd. These samples were sent off to an independent laboratory in the Southeast. Because of the holiday season we are not sure how quickly we will get the results back.
It seems that some of the national media has finally gotten back from Christmas break. United Mountain Defense volunteers helped connect these national media sources with local residents who wanted to share their stories. We met with ABC, Truthout.org, GQ, and the Appalachian PBS series...
Volunteers for United Mountain Defense handed out flyers announcing the Public Meeting that was scheduled to happen in Kingston, TN at 4:30pm. We also distributed copies of Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) dealing with different grades of coal ash. The information contained on these Safety sheets suggests that as this coal ash dries out and becomes more airborne that everyone should wear single or double filter respirators. Also each house should have a HEPA filter and change the filter once a week. United Mountain Defense volunteers were reporting having soar throats at the end of the day today after being in the disaster zone all day. We will be purchasing respirators for our ground crews. It will be an interesting day as we deliver MSDS information to local residents while wearing lung protection. United Mountain Defense volunteers continued to deliver clean bottled water to residents on Swan Pond Rd.
12-27-08: UMD at Kingston Public Meeting - TVA Coal Ash Spill posted December 28, 2008 United Mountain Defense volunteers spent yesterday Dec 27, 2008 delivering Material Safety Data Sheets about fly ash and announcements about the Public Meeting in Kingston to the coal impacted citizens around TVA's coal ash spill site. We also mobilized volunteers from the Hurricane Creek Keeper of Tuscaloosa, AL and Upper Watauga River Keeper of Boone, NC to paddle up the river and gather samples of river water, sludge, and document all the impacts they could see. While in route they were interviewed by a New York Times reporter in a bass boat. They are sending their samples to a Toxicity Lab at Appalachian State University and are hoping to get the results back on Tuesday.
Today I awoke to a phone call. The kind progressive people of Roane County, TN had allowed me to post to their RoaneViews.com community forum last night. I was delighted to get a phone call and an offer of a work space in the area surrounding TVA's ash spill area. The local resident was so inspired by the ground truthing, outreach, and daily reports that United Mountain Defense was delivering that we were granted rent free use of the property...
I brought 2 conductivity meters for water testing down to the spill scene yesterday - along with Ph and dissolved oxygen testing equipment - I met up with United Mountain Defense members plus John Wathen of Riverkeepers (former chair of Citizens Coal Council)
We tried to drive back to the spill site but TVA became irate when we pulled off the road and tried to take some pictures - Matt and I were detained for almost an hour at a check point yesterday...
United Mountain Defense and Independent Media volunteers have been on the ground since December 22, 2008 gathering water samples of the coal sludge, learning all we could from local residents, handing out free education materials, and documenting TVA’s coal ash pond spill. On Christmas Day two United Mountain Defense volunteers got in a boat and paddled out into the Emory River to gather water samples and an hour of video footage from the point where the ash spill meets the river. TVA has stated that the Coast Guard is on site, there are silt fences on site, and they were constructing a gravel levy around the spill.
United Mountain Defense volunteer staff person Matt Landon stated, “We launched a boat after witnessing three kayakers paddle unhindered yesterday. To our surprise there was no Coast Guard onsite. We did not have to paddle over any TVA installed silt fences. We did not have to portage over any TVA built gravel levy. We did not see any fish....
For most of my life Christmas morning was a time of hanging out in my pajamas, opening presents, eating really good food, and spending time with my family. This year was a little different. I spent Christmas in the man-made disaster that used to surround TVA's Kingston Coal Burning Power Plant. Due to TVA's negligence a HUGE coal ash pond exploded into the surrounding countryside dumping HUGE amounts of toxins into the local environment... ...Read more.
(UMD PRESS RELEASE) Huge environmental disaster of epic proportions in TN posted December 25, 2008 Monday December 22, a tragedy 40 times bigger than the
Valdez Oil spill occurred outside of Kingston, TN.
Residences living near the Tennessee Valley Authority
(TVA) Kingston coal plant were flooded with
approximately 500 million gallons of nasty black coal
waste. It covered 400 acres of land and flooded into
tributaries of the Tennessee River which is the water
supply for Chattanooga TN and millions of people
living downstream in Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky... ...Read more.
Members of United Mountain Defense traveled today down to Harriman, TN to learn more first hand about the impacts of the coal ash pond failure. We traveled on Swan Pond Rd visiting local residents and passing out information about the chemicals that may be present in the drinking water. Beginning at 3pm Dec 23, 2008 TVA officials began to visit all of the houses just prior to our visit advising residents to boil their drinking water before consuming it for the next 5 days. Unfortunately TVA did not inform anyone about the reasons for needing to boil the water and any chemicals that may be present in their water. The city of Harriman was working 24 hours a day to install a new water pipe in order to provide these residents with cleaner water. Their current water source was a large spring which may have been contaminated by the spill...
Gorilla In The Greenhouse - Episode: Turn It Up Day!
The city’s hooked on “clean, green, mountain energy.” But when KJ helps the gang find out that “clean and green” is actually a massive coal-seeking mechanical worm on it’s way to remove their favorite mountain, the kids get to work.
“Voices
for Appalachia”
Written and Narrated by Hundreds
An Appalachia Portrait-Story Project
Artist Francesco di Santis joined us
at our 2008 Mountain Justice training camp in Kentucky to continue work
on his latest project “Voices for Appalachia”. Francesco is
working with other regional organizations throughout Appalachia and the
project has
traveled to Mountain Justice Spring Break, the mountains of eastern Tennnessee,
the Appalachian Studies Association conference and the Heartwood Forest
Council.
There
is a manmade ecological disaster of geologic proportions occurring
in the rolling mountains of the southern Appalachians; its
called mountain range -- or Mountain Top Removal (MTR) mining.
It is the ultimate in theft of a people's heritage -- the
destruction of watersheds -- and the annihilation of one of
the most diverse places on earth.
Mission Statement
Mountain Justice seeks to add to the growing
anti-MTR citizens movement. Specifically Mountain Justice
demands an abolition of MTR, steep slope strip mining and
all other forms of surface
mining for coal. We work to protect the cultural and natural
heritage of the Appalachia coal fields. We work to contribute
with grassroots organizing, public education, nonviolent
civil disobedience and other forms of citizen action.
Historically coal companies have engaged in violence and
property destruction when faced with citizen opposition to
their activities. Mountain Justice is committed to nonviolence
and will
not be engaged in property destruction.
We work together to create diverse and sustainable economies in
Appalachian regions traditionally dominated by the coal industry by
supporting businesses, jobs and ways of living that are not environmentally
or culturally destructive and are nourishing to the social and biological fabric of healthy communities.
There will be a Mountain Justice meeting next weekend Jan 9-11 at Camp Blanton in Harlan County, KY, all are welcome.
“Voices
for Appalachia”