[Rhodes22-list] Potash Spill at Kingston TVA Plant

[brad haslett]

Wally,

That's a nasty ash gap in that dam.  What kind of soil do you have there?  Clay content?  I built two ponds in Middle Tn that all the "experts" including my neighbor with a Vanderbilt civil engineering degree, said would never hold water because of the underlying limestone layer and high sand content in the soil.  We disked in soda ash (learned that trick from a farmer) and then ran over it with a vibratory drum sheepsfoot roller - worked like a charm. Ironically, fly ash is also sold as a soil binder as well as a binder in concrete.  We've built a number of ponds in MS (not my brother's primary area of expertise) and went with what we knew worked from previous experience - soda ash  if you can't get enough clay and lots-o-compaction.  It will be interesting to see what methods and materials the TVA used. I just got off the phone with Gary from our morning brief and his quick-and-dirty analysis was, "under engineered or over filled, or both, glad
 we didn't build it!"

Someone's going to take a bullet! I hope it's the TVA but not if my electric bill goes up.

Brad
--- On Wed, 12/31/08, TN Rhodey <tnrhodey at gmail.com> wrote:
From: TN Rhodey <tnrhodey at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Potash Spill at Kingston TVA Plant
To: "The Rhodes 22 Email List" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Date: Wednesday, December 31, 2008, 7:03 AM

They keep upping the numbers. Latest link with photos and video of the area-
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/dec/31/toxic-details-released/

from the article ....:On Tuesday, Tennessee Valley Authority spokeswoman
B.J. Gatten said that prior to the spill there were 9.4 million cubic yards
of material in the "dredge cell," and that after the spill, 4 million
cubic
yards remained at the site.
In a toxic release inventory posted on its Web site, the TVA said releases
into the Kingston dredge cells included the following during 2007:

-- More than 1.4 million pounds of barium compounds.

-- More than 49,000 pounds of lead compounds.

-- More than 142,000 pounds of manganese compounds.

-- More than 44,000 pounds of arsenic compounds.



The above is not what was spilled but rather the amount of waste generated
in 07. Locals will not trust TVA to test water so TVA is going to pay local
utilities to check water quality. The water intake is just a few miles down
river. If the sludge dries some of this can become air borne.

On Tue, Dec 30, 2008 at 11:56 AM, Brad Haslett <flybrad at gmail.com> wrote:

> Bill,
>
> Here's the latest from the politicians in the area involved - total
silence
> -
>
>
>
http://blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/silence/archives/2008/12/elected_officia_2.shtml
>
> I've been out of the news loop on this event except my brother follows
> these things closely from an engineering point of view.  When we do
> site work subject to compaction tests, he knows better than all the
> scientific methods combined whether something is compacted enough by
> seeing if the machine leaves a track.  It will be interesting to see
> what construction methods were used and what engineering data was
> accepted.
>
> As Gary always says, "you can't beat a man at his own
craft".
> Someone's going to take a bullet on this one - the political types are
> ducking for cover.
>
> Brad
>
>
>
> On Tue, Dec 30, 2008 at 10:26 AM, Bill Effros <bill at effros.com>
wrote:
> > Wally,
> >
> > The reports outside TVA country have downplayed the seriousness of
this
> > event, and the (until now) hidden fact that coal waste disposal is as
> > much a problem as nuclear waste disposal.  Any sites you could point
me
> > to would be appreciated.
> >
> > Bill Effros
> >
> >
> >
> > TN Rhodey wrote:
> >> I am sure you all have heard about the Potash overflow in
Kingston TN.
> >> Kingston is 20 miles west of my home. My boat is slipped another
20
> miles
> >> down river from the spill. We cruised near the area in my buddies
Boston
> >> Whaler. What a freaking mess!!!
> >>
> >> Wally
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