The Waters of the United States
Observations from the Tennessee River and Beyond
Below is an essay written by Jeff Rich — photographer, professor and curator — currently running a Kickstarter to fundraise for the production of his upcoming photobook. Since launching the Kickstarter on November 7th, many things have happened, making this project more timely and important.
At the end of the road loomed a truck-sized chunk of ash.
As I approached, the asphalt disappeared underneath a sea of grey sludge, which was dotted with upended trees, dead fish and turtles and — off in the distance — a house floating, like a ship, on top of it all. Somewhere, underneath this pale amalgam, was the Emory River, a residential neighborhood, and hundreds of acres of farmland.
On the morning of December 22, 2008, at the Kingston Fossil Plant, a dyke of a containment pond ruptured and, as a result, 5.4 million cubic yards of coal fly ash was released into the surrounding countryside.
The nearby Emory and Clinch rivers were also inundated with the fly ash, which is a byproduct of coal-burning power plants. This was the largest fly ash spill in US history. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) originally estimated that it would take six months to clean up the spill. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the EPA finished the cleanup in early 2015.
Coal fly ash is stored in large ponds, much like our solid waste goes into landfills. It contains high levels of Arsenic, as well as Radium, Chromium, Uranium, and Thorium. These ponds often sit for years in storage with no solid plans to remove them. Recently after flooding caused by Hurricane Matthew in North Carolina, an undetermined amount of coal fly ash was spilled in the Neuse River. This follows the devastating spill by Duke Energy on the Dan River in 2014.
One of the major issues facing our waterways is the deterioration of these coal fly ash storage ponds. Because coal fired power plants use so much water, they are almost always situated near rivers or lakes. As a result, these storage ponds are often built right next to these bodies of water. As the dykes that form the ponds age, they require maintenance to keep the ash from seeping or bursting out into the surrounding waterways. Often this maintenance is a low priority to the power companies, and is not well regulated on the state and national level.
Pollutants like coal fly ash often end up in the sediment of rivers, and can affect water quality and aquatic life. Many of the reservoirs operated by The Tennessee Valley Authority have fish consumption advisories because of the problems with pollution, not only the toxic chemicals found in coal fly ash, but others like Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), Mercury, Copper, as well as Chlordane and Lindane (two types of pesticide.)
Currently, The Tennessee Riverkeeper is suing the 3M Corporation for their pollution of Wheeler Reservoir and the Tennessee River, in Decatur, Alabama with the highly toxic chemicals PFOA and PFOS.
The EPA released a health advisory in May which revealed that “testing found levels in excess of recommended exposures for PFOS and PFOA in the West Morgan East Lawrence Water Authority drinking water.”
In 1972 Clean Water Act gave the EPA the power to regulate the amount of waste that was released into the waterways of the United States. The strict regulation of the chemicals that are released into our rivers is an essential component of the rebirth of healthy waterways over the past forty years. The EPA along with state and local regulators are what keep these pollutants out of our rivers, as well as our drinking water. The President-elect has declared their shortsighted business goals of scaling back environmental regulation across the board, starting with cutting the EPA.
The health of our environment directly affects the health of our population. Keeping our waterways clean and healthy will lead to a more sustainable future for our environment and populace. Through my photographs, I observe the impact of man on waterways and perhaps bring more attention to how we treat our water sources impacts us all.
Jeff Rich is a photographer, curator and professor living in Iowa City. He has been photographing a long-term documentary project called Watershed. “Watershed: The Tennessee River” will be released by Fall Line Press in spring of 2017. Jeff is an Assistant Professor at the University of Iowa in the School of Art and Art History. He also curates the weekly series “Eyes on the South” for Oxford American Magazine. The Kickstarter for this project ends on December 7th.
