In the Wake of Roane Country, Let’s Ask Dominion Resources About Its Ash Ponds

The NYT today reported today that the Roane County, Tennessee, Coal Ash Spill is Much Larger than Initially Estimated . Shaila Dewan reports that the new estimate of 5.4 million cubic yards of toxic waste—enough to flood more than 3,000 acres one foot deep—is more than twice the amount that the Tennessee Valley Authority had initially said that the pond contained.

Authority officials offered little explanation for the discrepancy, telling reporters that the initial number was an estimate based on their information at the time. The aerial survey was done on Tuesday, but the results were not released until Thursday…Residents were stunned by the new numbers. “That’s scary to know that they can be off by that much,” said Angela Spurgeon, whose yard is swamped with ash.

All of which leads me to wonder: how many sludge ponds does Dominion Power maintain? Where are they located and how much toxic waste is contained in each? Are the ponds properly lined, to prevent toxic metals such as arsenic and mercury from leaking into ground water and nearby streams and rivers? The Dominion Resources website does not address this issue.

I’ve submitted these questions to Dominion Resources and will share whatever they tell me on this blog. Of course, they won't be in a hurry to release this information, so it would be better if they hear from a lot of us. You can ask Dominion to release information about it’s ash ponds here. You can also write to Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, and ask him to insist that Dominion release the information. The disaster in Tennessee should serve as a wake up call for Virginia.

(Hat Tip to Sandra Diaz at the cool Bloggers Challenge at iLoveMountains.org

for the e-mail alert that sent me in search of the NYT coverage of the Roane County disaster. Sandra also shared a link to Knox News great local coverage of the disaster, with lots of photos and video.)