Appalachian Sludge

Last month at a Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) power plant near Kingston, Tennessee, a coal ash holding pond ruptured, sending a cascade of very nasty stuff into the valley below. The coal ash, which contains arsenic, various heavy metals, and other contaminates, has destroyed homes and contaminated water supplies. Long term effects remain unknown. Residents are fearful about more than losing their homes in these bad economic times. They fear for their health and the health of their children. Check out Duke's Institute for Southern Studies, which has provided some of the best coverage I have read concerning this incident and the social, political, and economic issues it raises. Also check out coverage by United Mountain Defense.

The South's environment, especially in the southern mountains, is threatened by overdevelopment, extractive industries, air pollution, overstressed aquifers, hazardous waste, and countless other environmental time bombs. This issue should have a prominent place on the political agenda of leaders at the local, state, and national level. But despite hang-wringing when something like this happens, there is little real effort to address what is happening on the southern landscape. Henry Grady has many twenty-first century kindred spirits who see economic development at all costs to be the region's driving force. What are those costs? The people in Roane County, TN know them all too well.