TVA hit with $11.5M penalty for 2008 coal ash spill at Tenn. plant; cites water violations

TVA hit with $11.5M penalty for ‘08 coal ash spill

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The Tennessee Valley Authority has been hit with civil penalties totaling $11.5 million for the December 2008 coal ash spill at the utility’s Kingston plant.

Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation officials announced the penalty Monday. It says it’s for violations of the Tennessee Water Quality Control Act and the Tennessee Solid Waste Disposal Act.

The spill sent 5.4 million cubic yards of ash into the river and onto nearby private property about 40 miles west of Knoxville.

The environmental department Commissioner Jim Fyke said in a statement that the spill is an “unprecedented event.”

TVA said the utility will obey the order and remains “fully committed to a complete cleanup of the Kingston ash spill.”