Jan 23, 2009 Friday
Dear folks,
(please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com/
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
United Mountain Defense volunteers have been waiting to get new carpet put in the UMD volunteer house since we had an indoor flood on sunday night. We've still been helping organize between vacumming water and working with carpet specialists, and the insurance man.
So we have also been hounding TVA about the Material Safety Data Sheets AND WE FINALLY GOT A COPY OF IT TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The copies that we have are for Class F fly ash and for bottom ash. The main chemicals listed are aluminum oxide, iron oxide, calcium oxide, magnesium oxide, titanium oxide, and inorganic arsenic at varying ranges. We will try to get these sheets up on UMD's website and this blog.
We have also spent the day working on figuring out the air quality thing. WE HAVE GOOD NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Swan Pond community is so much further ahead than other communities because of all their documentation, diaries, doctor's visits, and keeping track of their symptoms. The community listserve serves as a historical document because people keep posting their health issues there.
We have been working on formulating an air quality monitoring program. We want to bring down the Bucket Brigade? These are low volume air monitors that each citizen could recieve training to use. We could set them up inside local houses and also outside. We are looking into Summa containers to test for Volitile Organic Compounds and other gases. We are also looking into high volume air monitors and TEOM infra red scanning particulate monitors. CTEH/ TVA and TDEC are only testing to PM10 which is okay but we want to test for Total Suspended Particles which will give us a fuller air quality picture.
We have learned that TDEC has still not installed the two high volume air monitors they promised on Jan 15, 2009 but instead only installed one on Lake shore Drive. Can anyone verify that a big loud vaccum air monitor is plugged in to an electrical outlet out on Lakeshore drive with a smaller CTEH monitor next to it?
Yesterday I tried to find the air monitor on Berkshire Drive and only saw and video taped the small low volume CTEH/ TVA monitors. Is there a big air monitor plugged in to an electrical outlet there on Berkshire? So CTEH/ TVA is using low volume air monitors that would typically be used for indoors. The equipment they are using can not show compliance or non compliance with the EPA ambient air quality standards. Basically their equipment is too small. If you are so inclined you should call Tom Welborn of EPA at (404) 562 9354 and tell him that TVA is using low volume monitors to say they are achieving EPA ambient air quality standards. Request more high volume air monitoring equipment now. TELL HIM ABOUT THE HEALTH IMPACTS OF THE COMMUNITY including nose bleeds and respiratory problems. The air is also turning gold and silver jewelery black. Ask to file an official complaint.
Also call TDEC at (615) 532 0562 and tell them they need to order TVA to install more high volume air monitors as per the EPA's and TDEC's monitoring and reporting requirements. TDEC is the lead enforcement agency right now so we should focus our energies on them. Tell them about your communities health. Call TDEC and file a complaint, ask them to install more high volume air monitors.
Also we made a call today to OSHA about the fact that a lot of the independent contractors did not give TVA's MSDS sheets to their workers. These workers aren't informed about the toxins they are working with and their employers are not supplying them with the appropriate safety equipment. We called Phillip Harrell of OSHA at (615) 232 3803. OSHA needed to know the names of the contractors so that they could follow up on getting MSDS sheets out to the workers. Either call OSHA with the names of the contractors or email us and we will call them for you.
Also about the dump trucks tracking coal fly ash out onto the roads. We need to be more diligent about the trucks because we witnessed trucks traveling out of the disaster site without being washed. We were able to identify them because they had mud caked up on the sides, back, and wheel wells of the trucks. This has and will continue to be an ongoing problem for your community, but we can put a stop to it by reporting the dirty trucks. The following is a breif history of the dirty dump truck situation. On Jan 6, 2009 Mr. Graves first recorded and made official complaints to the TN Highway Patrol, TDEC, EPA, TVA, and Howie Rose of Roane County Emergency Management Agency. On Jan 9, 2009 we reported dirty dump trucks. On Jan 12, 2009 Howie Rose told me TVA had purchased three truck washers to be installed. On Jan 15, 2009 we told Gill Francis of TVA not to forget the truck washers. On Jan 22, 2009 we called to report dirty dump trucks. As of Jan 23, 2009 TVA had still not installed the truck washers and Howie Rose said TVA will be installing them by this coming Tuesday Jan 27, 2009. This means that all of these agencies and TVA have knowingly been tracking coal fly ash out onto your roads for more than 17 days. This is unacceptable.
Please call TDEC (865) 594 6035
EPA (404) 562 9354
TN Highway Patrol (865) 594 5793
Howie Rose Roane County Emergency Management (865) 250 7347
TVA (865) 717 4006
File official complaints and make a paper trail for these injustices.
Alright, thanks for hanging in there.
I thank you for your help, support, courage, and kind words.
There is no shortage of a need for project funding. United Mountain Defense is a 501c3 and we are seeking funding or co-sponsoring organizations to help fund personal protection equipment, bottled water, independent air and water monitoring, and real time web cams.
If you are a resident impacted by TVA's coal ash disaster please contact us at 865 689 2778.
If you can make a donation of money or other resources please send a check to United Mountain Defense P.O. Box 20363 Knoxville, TN 37920 or use our PayPal account at www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Till then ,matt landon full time volunteer staff person for United Mountain Defense
Jan 22, 2009 Thursday
Dear folks,
(Please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com/
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
Today started out as we facilitated an interview between a community member and GQ magazine. As we were driving up to the road block on South Swan Pond Rd we were halted even though we had a community resident pass. The TVA police officers questioned us about our intentions for driving onto the public road. Of course the rolling video camera may have had some impact on the situation. Our license plate was radioed in and we were allowed to enter this distressed community. For the most part the corporate media has not reported the stories of many of the residents living on this portion of Swan Pond Rd because they don’t have coal fly ash in their front yards though they did drink tap water impacted by the coal ash disaster for nearly 10 days.
This particular resident was more than happy to share her story about how she got blisters on the roof of her mouth on Dec 24, 2008 after boiling and drinking the tap water and cooking Christmas Eve dinner with it. She was very happy to receive the 10 gallons of bottled water we delivered for her today.
After the interview United Mountain Defense volunteers headed to the citizen’s press
conference at the Harriman community center. This press conference garnered more media attendance than any of the TVA press conferences attended by Independent Media outlets. There were at least four television stations including the Jim Lehrer News Hour and more than four news papers with large readerships including GQ, the Tennessean, and the Chattanooga Times Free Press. The main topics of the citizen’s press conference detailed the health concerns of the community members and exposed TVA’s cover up of the doctor ordered evacuations due to negative health impacts. To this point TVA has said that everything is fine with the air quality in the area while paying to temporarily relocate families living next to the coal ash disaster. The people are in respiratory distress because of TVA’s coal ash disaster.
After the successful citizen’s press conference United Mountain Defense volunteers traveled down to Swan Pond Circle Dr to do an interview with the Jim Lehrer News Hour. It was very productive and we used the time to record TVA’s changes to the disaster site. After the interview we visited a local volunteer who had recently gotten home from the hospital, and then we headed home.
There is no shortage of a need for project funding. United Mountain Defense is a 501c3 and we are seeking funding or co-sponsoring organizations to help fund personal protection equipment, bottled water, independent air and water monitoring, and real time web cams.
If you are a resident impacted by TVA's coal ash disaster please contact us at 865 689 2778.
If you can make a donation of money or other resources please send a check to United Mountain Defense P.O. Box 20363 Knoxville, TN 37920 or use our PayPal account at www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Till then ,matt landon full time volunteer staff person for United Mountain Defense
Jan 21, 2009 Wednesday
Dear folks,
(Please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com/
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
Today volunteers for United Mountain Defense traveled to Harriman, TN for a media messaging workshop. There were a few local residents who attended the media training. It was a very effective session where the residents crafted their message for the press conference and worked on their sound bites.
United Mountain Defense volunteers made follow up phone calls to the media that received press releases about the citizen’s press conference. We also called other media outlets that were not on the email list.
There is no shortage of a need for project funding. United Mountain Defense is a 501c3 and we are seeking funding or co-sponsoring organizations to help fund personal protection equipment, bottled water, independent air and water monitoring, and real time web cams.
If you are a resident impacted by TVA's coal ash disaster please contact us at 865 689 2778.
If you can make a donation of money or other resources please send a check to United Mountain Defense P.O. Box 20363 Knoxville, TN 37920 or use our PayPal account at www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Till then ,matt landon full time volunteer staff person for United Mountain Defense
Jan 20, 2009 Tuesday
Dear folks,
(Please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com/
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
It has been interesting and hard to continue working on the TVA coal ash disaster while taking care of the flooded United Mountain Defense volunteer house as well. None the less United Mountain Defense volunteers set up a media messaging workshop and a citizen’s press conference in Harriman, TN.
United Mountain Defense volunteers emailed out a press release announcing the citizen’s press conference to all the media outlets that have been reporting on the TVA coal ash disaster.
Hey we need independent air quality monitoring!!!! Local residents are reporting that their gold and silver jewelry is being turned black and the tarnish can not be removed. They are reporting that they and their animals are having uncontrollable nose bleeds. There is one report of one dog’s black nose turning red. Local residents are missing work because of respiratory distress. They are reporting shortness of breath. As soon as they travel out of the immediate disaster area some of these resident’s symptoms clear up. I got a phone call yesterday from a lady who lives in Rockwood about 10 miles southwest of the disaster site. Rockwood is located in the path of the prevailing winds. The woman has an evacuation notice from her doctor because of respiratory distress.
There is no shortage of a need for project funding. United Mountain Defense is a 501c3 and we are seeking funding or co-sponsoring organizations to help fund personal protection equipment, bottled water, independent air and water monitoring, and real time web cams.
If you are a resident impacted by TVA's coal ash disaster please contact us at 865 689 2778.
If you can make a donation of money or other resources please send a check to United Mountain Defense P.O. Box 20363 Knoxville, TN 37920 or use our PayPal account at www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Till then ,matt landon full time volunteer staff person for United Mountain Defense
Jan 19, 2009 Monday
Dear folks,
(Please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com/
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
Happy MLK day!! So as the United Mountain Defense volunteers were vacuuming water logged carpets a lively statewide protest against TVA was occurring. There were protests in Johnson City, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Nashville, TN.
There was an incredible amount of media coverage on the Chattanooga protests. There have been two Youtube videos created about the Knoxville protests. The Nashville protesters infiltrated the MLK Day March and distributed information about TVA’s coal ash disaster.
There is no shortage of a need for project funding. United Mountain Defense is a 501c3 and we are seeking funding or co-sponsoring organizations to help fund personal protection equipment, bottled water, independent air and water monitoring, and real time web cams.
If you are a resident impacted by TVA's coal ash disaster please contact us at 865 689 2778.
If you can make a donation of money or other resources please send a check to United Mountain Defense P.O. Box 20363 Knoxville, TN 37920 or use our PayPal account at www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Till then ,matt landon full time volunteer staff person for United Mountain Defense
Jan 18, 2009 Sunday
Dear folks,
(Please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com/
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
United Mountain Defense’s Harriman field team traveled to Knoxville for a board meeting that also served as a planning meeting for the next week. It was good to see our Knoxville friends and catch up on the latest news from the BIG city.
Later in the evening we traveled to the United Mountain Defense volunteer house to discover that a minor flood had occurred inside the house. We found a copper pipe fitting that had come loose and had been flowing for an untold number of days. There was about 3 inches of water in the wall to wall carpet. It has added another level of disaster to our list of tasks. We got 4 hours of sleep this night.
There is no shortage of a need for project funding. United Mountain Defense is a 501c3 and we are seeking funding or co-sponsoring organizations to help fund personal protection equipment, bottled water, independent air and water monitoring, and real time web cams.
If you are a resident impacted by TVA's coal ash disaster please contact us at 865 689 2778.
If you can make a donation of money or other resources please send a check to United Mountain Defense P.O. Box 20363 Knoxville, TN 37920 or use our PayPal account at www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Till then ,matt landon full time volunteer staff person for United Mountain Defense
Jan 17, 2009 Saturday
Dear folks,
(Please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com/
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
United Mountain Defense volunteers awoke to good news when we found out about receiving a $3,000 Technical Assistance Grant from the Appalachian Community Fund for heavy metal screenings for local residents impacted by TVA’s coal ash disaster. We want to thank the Appalachian Community Fund for all of the support they have given us over the past year including supporting the Portrait Story Project and the Harriman Resident Heavy Metal Screening. Thank you Appalachian Community Fund!!!
There was a volunteer meeting set up for local residents who wanted to get started working on projects. The meeting agenda was made by the people who showed up for the meeting. Topics of discussion included water monitoring, air monitoring, truck traffic, rock quarry blasting, and human health. The meeting lasted for an hour and there were a few break outs/ workshops that followed the meeting. The workshop groups included email listserve moderator training, water quality monitoring training, and media training.
Two volunteers signed up to be moderators of the community email listserve and received training to do this job effectively.
The media workshop decided to hold a citizen press conference on January 22, 2009 to mark the one month anniversary of TVA’s coal ash disaster. The main theme of the press conference would be the health concerns and evacuations ordered by local doctors.
The water monitoring workshop saw the creation of a new citizen monitoring team. The new monitoring team made a plan to gather four gallons of polluted water to be shipped to Colorado for testing.
This volunteer meeting was very productive. It was conducted without an organizational structure. There was a facilitator that kept the meeting flowing in an orderly fashion.
There is no shortage of a need for project funding. United Mountain Defense is a 501c3 and we are seeking funding or co-sponsoring organizations to help fund personal protection equipment, bottled water, independent air and water monitoring, and real time web cams.
If you are a resident impacted by TVA's coal ash disaster please contact us at 865 689 2778.
If you can make a donation of money or other resources please send a check to United Mountain Defense P.O. Box 20363 Knoxville, TN 37920 or use our PayPal account at www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Till then ,matt landon full time volunteer staff person for United Mountain Defense
Jan 16, 2009 Friday
Dear folks,
(Please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com/
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
United Mountain Defense volunteers spent the day on the phone and doing much needed computer work. At 10 AM United Mountain Defense full time volunteer staff person, Matt Landon, participated in a conference call with TN and national environmental groups. He was able to give a detailed update from the front lines. There were some strong resolutions and plans of action charted that may help bring some positive results to the coal impacted community of Harriman and other such communities across the country.
Another United Mountain Defense volunteer spent the day informing Swan Pond community members about the volunteer meeting on Saturday and checking in with residents who got tested for heavy metals.
There is no shortage of a need for project funding. United Mountain Defense is a 501c3 and we are seeking funding or co-sponsoring organizations to help fund personal protection equipment, bottled water, independent air and water monitoring, and real time web cams.
If you are a resident impacted by TVA's coal ash disaster please contact us at 865 689 2778.
If you can make a donation of money or other resources please send a check to United Mountain Defense P.O. Box 20363 Knoxville, TN 37920 or use our PayPal account at www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Till then ,matt landon full time volunteer staff person for United Mountain Defense
Jan 15, 2009 Thursday
Dear folks,
(Please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com/
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
Volunteers from United Mountain Defense went down to the American Legion and opened the doors at 10 AM to gather the samples from the Tuesday Jan 13, 2009 human heavy metal screening. The doors opened there was a steady trickle of locals who dropped off their samples. UMD volunteers stayed at the American Legion until nearly 3 PM.
At 3 PM we closed shop and began preparing for the TVA Open House at the Roane County Community College. A representative of the Knoxville Independent Media took his camera and began going from table to table asking hard questions of each of the representatives. The floor of the gym was divided up into different areas including air quality, water quality, independent contracting, TVA activities, TN Department of Environment and Conservation, TN Department of Health, and EPA.
The Knoxville Independent Media representative made an effort to go to each table and speak with and video tape all of the participants. The most interesting interviews came from the corporation doing the air monitoring and the TDEC air quality specialists. I learned from TDEC that the air quality monitors that CTEH Corporation was using were “low volume” air monitors which would not provide a definitive compliance or non compliance measure for EPA’s Ambient Air Quality Standard. Knoxville Independent Media has the TDEC official on video tape making this statement. TVA has been passing off this less than adequate information to the EPA, TDEC, the public, and the media to say that the air is safe to breathe. There is no monitoring for VOC’s or indoor air quality. TDEC installed two “high volume” air monitors on Jan 14, 2009 along the northern and northeastern edges of the coal ash disaster that would provide parallel samples of CTEH’s low volume equipment. It has been 24 days since TVA’s coal ash disaster occurred and the state of TN is finally installing air monitors. What a joke.
So when the Knoxville Independent Media representative asked about additional monitors the TDEC official said they would not be necessary based on the present locations of the existing air monitors.
A member of United Mountain Defense and the Knoxville Independent Media representative attended the TVA open house from 4 PM- 8 PM and recorded about two and half hours of video tape.
There is no shortage of a need for project funding. United Mountain Defense is a 501c3 and we are seeking funding or co-sponsoring organizations to help fund personal protection equipment, bottled water, independent air and water monitoring, and real time web cams.
If you are a resident impacted by TVA's coal ash disaster please contact us at 865 689 2778.
If you can make a donation of money or other resources please send a check to United Mountain Defense P.O. Box 20363 Knoxville, TN 37920 or use our PayPal account at www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Till then ,matt landon full time volunteer staff person for United Mountain Defense
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