The Appalachian mountains have some of the most bio diverse forest life on the planet and are the source of our water and air.
No Such Thing As Clean Coal
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The Un-Natural Disaster
United Mountain Defense is dedicated to protecting Tennessee’s watersheds, air, mountains and communities. We have many years of experience working on issues relating to surface mining and its impacts on communities. A primary focus of UMD has been in scientific data collection, community organizing, and data collection and analysis from federal and state agencies.
These skills enabled UMD to rapidly respond to the needs of the community impacted by the TVA coal waste disaster by shifting our field operations to the site. UMD has been working on the ground in Harriman Tennessee everyday since Monday December 22. Residents living near the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Kingston Steam Plant were flooded with approximately 1.6 billion gallons of 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.
UMD began working in this community by engaging in door to door active “Listening Projects” to better understand the needs of the community. UMD discovered several needs that initiated the following projects:
Distributions of Information : UMD discovered that the primary need was for information and members responded by distributing handouts including Material Safety Data Sheets, the Toxic Release Inventory for the Kingston Coal Plant, instructions for writing petitions to the ATSDR, info on how to minimize exposure to coal ash and more.
Water Distribution: Some areas reported the need for clean drinking water so UMD distributed more than 500 gallons of bottled water door to door and have now worked with residents to set up a water distribution station in the community.
Scientific Testing: It was noted that there was a strong concern related to the safety of the water and ash so UMD immediately began and continues to do extensive water and ash testing with the commitment to provide the results immediately to the community and then to the public and interested scientist and groups. We are working to set up air quality testing.
Community Organizing: Following the lead of the Harriman community UMD is working side by side with residents to organize community meetings and offering many resources in regards to community organizing.
Medical Testing: After the first community meeting there was interest in toxicity testing and UMD began working with a local toxicologist to offer testing. Thanks to the many donations of groups and individuals UMD raised $15,000 to have 30 individuals tested for heavy metals.
Documentation: Citizens are concerned about how TVA is cleaning up the disaster site. UMD is working with locals to document the cleanup operations in their community through video and photographs which are being shared at dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com
Media: UMD is also networking impacted community members with media outlets. For more information about media efforts please contact us at umdvolunteerhouse@yahoo.com
UMD is motivated by concern for the immediate and long term impacts of this disaster and hopes to utilize the skills and contacts developed over years to benefit those who are impacted both now and in the future. By monitoring and providing independent lab results UMD hopes to motivate Tennessee Valley Authority and the Environmental Protection Agency to become more open and transparent with their own tests and results and to provide for the needs of the people impacted by this disaster.
Donations Needed
Donations help pay for work being done in coal impacted communities such as water testing, air monitoring, and toxicity testing.
Checks should be made out to:
United Mountain Defense
P.O. Box 20363
Knoxville, TN 37920
Please mark check: “For TVA Spill”
Or use our Pay Pal account below
Thank you for your support.
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We will not
stand by as safety and environmental compliance take a back seat to
megawatt production.
UMD demand the
following from TVA.
1. TVA
provides clean drinking water to all residents with water affected by
the coal ash spill, indefinitely.
2. TVA and
the State of Tennessee hold multiple public hearings and
investigate the bursting coal ash dam.
3. TVA and
the State of Tennessee identifies the locations of all the coal
ash, what toxins exist in the coal ash, and how it will be cleaned up
and safely disposed of in landfills with liners.
4.
TVA provides public disclosure of all existing coal ash ponds
and makes sure each pond receives a current inspection by the
state of Tennessee. TVA upgrades all coal ash ponds to include
safety liners.
5. TVA
installs a warning system and provides education for all residents
likely to be impacted by any problems with other ash ponds.
6. TVA completely cleans up and restores the affected properties
and water ways.
7. TVA
pays restitution for human suffering involved in the ash pond failure.
8. TVA
establishes a citizen advisory board with voting power for all of its
operations.
9. TVA
stops burning any coal from surface mines and Mountain Top Removal coal
mines.
10. TVA
cuts their emissions of mercury, heavy metals, hydrochloric acid, and
sulfuric acid to zero pounds per year.
11. TVA
agrees to not mine for coal in Royal Blue Wildlife Management Area.
Feel free to contact TVA and forward this list of demands. Make
sure to be polite.
Tennessee Valley Authority
400 W. Summit Hill Dr.
Knoxville, TN 37902-1499 tvainfo@tva.com
Mountain Removal Coal Mining is ravaging
West
Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and now Tennessee. We refuse to sacrifice
our mountains for corporate profits. United Mountain Defense is
dedicated to protecting Tennessee's heritage from destructive surface
mining which is blowing them up, layer by layer, to reach thin coal
seams. They are destroying our watersheds--leaving unstable mounds of
rubble behind.
Massive mines are segmented into smaller
adjacent
mines in order to avoid environmental impact statements which would
consider the cumulative impact to the watersheds.
ART FROM THE ASHES
YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED
To support the work of United Mountain Defense and its efforts on behalf of the survivors of the TVA coal ash disaster.
The Event: “Art From The Ashes" Art Exhibit and Silent Auction
Where: The Knoxville Museum of Art
When: Art Exhibit opening date: May 17, 2009 Time: 3:00 p.m.
Silent Auction and Reception: June 28, 2009 Time: 3:00 p.m.
Water Testing Results for Roane County, TN
United Mountain Defense is engaging in comperhensive independed water monitoring in the TVA coal waste disaster site. See links below for recent water testing results.
Click hereOn February 2, 2009 United Mountain Defense(UMD) and the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) released test results showing eleveated levels of toxic metals at and around the site of the Kingston Plant coal ash spill.
Click here Download Google Earth coordinates showing the test sites.
United Mountain Defense flyover from Roane County to the Kentucky boarder. Strip mining in Campbell, Scott and Claiborne Counties (Tennessee Cumberland Plateau) Jan 23 29. Strip mining.
Video of Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Kingston Ash Containment Area Blowout.
Coal-fired power plants produce approximately 129 million tons of waste per year, making coal combustion waste (CCW) the second largest industrial waste stream in the US . CCW contains numerous hazardous chemicals including arsenic, selenium, lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium, boron, thallium, and molybdenum. When coal ash comes in contact with water, hazardous constituents leach out of the waste and contaminate groundwater and surface water. United Mountain Defense is currently testing the waste and water from this disaster and will post the results when they are in.
