Kingston - One Year Later Hearing

This morning, President & Chief Executive Officer Tom Kilgore appeared on a panel at a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Water Resources & Environment.

Looking toward the one-year mark after the Kingston ash spill of Dec. 22, 2008, the hearing is evaluating the clean-up progress and assessing future environmental goals.

Along with Kilgore, the panel includes the following:

Richard Moore, TVA’s inspector general

Stan Meiburg, acting Region 4 administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Atlanta

Albert Turner Jr., Perry County (Ala.) commissioner

John Montgomery, senior principal, Stantec Consulting Services Inc.

Michael Churchman, executive director, Alabama Environmental Council

“Since the spill occurred,” said Kilgore in his submitted testimony, “our commitment has not wavered − to clean up the spill, protect the public health and safety, and to restore the area.

“We have also continued to look for opportunities, working closely with the leaders and residents of Roane County, to make the area better than it was before the spill. We are deeply grateful to the community for their patience and support, and regaining the public’s trust is important to all of us at TVA.

“Now, at this one-year mark, our focus is on the future − cleaning up the land and water, working with the community, providing health assessments, supporting independent scientific research, and setting TVA on a course to be an industry leader in ash management. In addition, we have placed a high priority on strengthening our internal accountabilities and organizational effectiveness.

“I would like to begin with an update on our progress at Kingston. Since December 22, 2008, TVA crews and contractors have worked diligently at the site on recovery operations. The oversight of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), along with the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation (TDEC), has been crucial to this effort, and we are grateful for their involvement.

“EPA and TVA deemed as ‘time critical’ the removal of 3 million cubic yards of ash from the main channel of the Emory River. To date, about two-thirds of the time-critical ash − just over 2 million cubic yards − has been removed by dredging and excavation. This is a good milestone for us, and we are on track to have the ash removed from the river by the spring of 2010.”

Please use the links below for additional information.

On-demand video of hearing (Link to video is at the bottom of middle column of the page)

Tom Kilgore's complete written testimony (PDF 101 kb)

Page Updated December 9, 2009 1:44 PM