Showing posts with label TVA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TVA. Show all posts
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Video--Journalists and Environmental Activist Arrested by TVA Police
Press Release: January 21, 2010
United Mountain Defense
Bonnie Swinford
(865) 689-2778
umdvolunteerhouse@yahoo.com
www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Journalists and Environmental Activist Arrested by TVA Police
KNOXVILLE, Tenn., January 21 – On Wednesday, January 20, 2010, United Mountain Defense (UMD) volunteer Matt Landon Jones and two journalists who were reporting on the current clean-up efforts of last year's Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) coal ash disaster where arrested by TVA police. Last year, a man-made earthen dam containing 50 years of contaminated coal ash erupted, forcing over 1 billion gallons of toxic ash into tributaries of the Tennessee River and devastated the surrounding community. Marking the event anniversary, the reporters were planning to report on the lives of the residents still living in the area as well as the communities receiving train loads of the toxic waste each week from the disaster site. Noticing the train cars filled with coal ash heading to Perry County, Alabama – a poor, predominately African American community where TVA is currently shipping large amounts of the coal ash for storage in a landfill. The journalists stopped to take photographs, at which point they were approached by TVA police. The TVA police detained all three individuals, confiscated their camera and searched their vehicle. The police officer was going to release the individual after writing up citations. The officer was nearly done writing up the citations when he received a phone call. Upon hanging up the phone, the officer told the three individuals that “things had changed.” Instead of issuing warning citations, the officer then arrested and charged all three individuals with criminal trespassing in what can only be described as a gross overreaction. Just prior to the arrest, Jones called fellow UMD volunteer Bonnie Swinford who heard Jones asking the officer if he was being arrested, to which the officer answered "yes". When Jones then asked the officer what he was being arrested for, the officer replied, "I'll get back to you," and took the cell phone away. All three were handcuffed and held on $2,000 bails.
"These arrests are part of a pattern of harassment of UMD volunteers by TVA," said Jones. "TVA has tried to prevent United Mountain Defense from conducting independent water testing, deploying air monitoring, and working with the community of Roane County and they have consistently harassed me while doing this work." In 2009, Jones helped a partially blind Roane County resident get home from a community meeting. Even though the resident explained to TVA police that Jones was simply driving her home, he was arrested, held in jail for 36 hours, and prevented from traveling near the disaster site for seven months before all charges were finally dropped. Other UMD volunteers, journalist, and scientist have experienced continued harassment from TVA officials as well.
TVA's Community Relations Senior Manager Katie Bell Kline was quick to report the incident online to the Roane County Community Advisory Board, erroneously claiming that "TVA Police found the three offenders in and on top of ash-loaded rail cars located on tracks adjacent to the middle road entrance to plant." Only one individual was anywhere near the train. The other two were in the car, as clearly indicated in both the TVA officer's report and in video footage recorded by Jones before his camera was roughly confiscated.
The pattern of harassment that concerned citizens and members of the media have experienced from TVA is unacceptable and has gone on for far too long.
For more information, please contact Bonnie Swinford at 865 689-2778 or Matt Landon Jones by email at umdvolunteerhouse@yahoo.com.
Video Footage of TVA police arrests on Jan 20, 2010
TVA Arrests UMD volunteer and two reporters http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxDy2n3Sk94
Video Footage of past TVA harassment of UMD volunteers
Mountain Justice Spring Break Students Harassed by TVA Police - March 15, 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGtD-_iOv3c
UMD volunteer arrested for helping grandmother - March 6, 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2ltonE1IdM
TVA police harass UMD volunteer while setting up air monitor –March 3, 2009 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frr-e8C5k6Y
TVA worker harassment of United Mountain Defense volunteers Kingston Power plant disaster - Dec 29, 2008 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Flo5HXvqHsw
Hurricane Creekeepper John Wathen speaks about TVA disaster and TVA police repression.- Dec 28, 2008 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmihsLzT7XQ
TVA has roadblocks set up on the main roads leading to the Swan Pond neighborhood, preventing volunteers from bringing clean water and information. - Dec 27, 2008 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujSElW0iG74
###
About United Mountain Defense
United Mountain Defense (UMD) is a Knoxville based non-profit dedicated to protecting Tennessee's watersheds, air, mountains and communities. We have many years of experience working on issues relating to surface mining and its impacts on communities. A primary focus of UMD has been in scientific data collection, community organizing, and data collection and analysis from federal and state agencies. www.unitedmountaindefense.org/
Monday, August 24, 2009
Citizen Groups Claim VICTORY Against TVA!!!!!!!!!
Here’s the article-------http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2009/aug/24/tva-may-shutter-aging-coal-fired-plants/?local
August 20,2009 TVA board meeting link http://www.tva.gov/abouttva/board/index.htm#820
Today it was reported that at TVA's board meeting on August 20, 2009 that TVA will most likely be closing down at least two coal burning power plants including Rogersville, TN and Widow's Creek, Alabama. This is such good news and a victory for United Mountain Defense, Mountain Justice, and Three Rivers Earth First! that have all been shining light on TVA's dirty little secrets, their coal burning power plant fleet. As I type this TVA has been buying up property around Widow's Creek to provide a safety buffer around the coal ash piles and gypsum ponds. They are also supposedly digging giant holes around the Rogersville Power Plant for some unknown reason. These closure actions are unprecedented in the history of the struggle against coal burning power plants and specifically against TVA. TVA has caved to public pressure and is closing down their old coal burners. As the largest purchaser of coal in the country TVA is a trend setter and we will continue to push for the conversion of ALL of TVA's dirty power plants to clean safe renewable energy. For now let us celebrate but also keep up the pressure as our protests are obviously working.....
Within our grassroots struggle for justice, clear and measurable victories are not always apparent and plentiful. As keepers of the long term agenda and volunteers of the earth, our labor is continuous but often overlooked. Not today. Never in the history of this struggle has a coal- fired power plant been stopped, not in the permit process, but in the peak of its life span.
From the number one purchaser of coal in North America, this means thousands of tons of coal that would have been ripped from the mountains of central Appalachia will not be. This means billions of dollars that would have been wired into the pockets of Coal Executives will not be. This means millions of gallons of coal ash and slurry that would have been generated over the next decades will not be.
This means the long standing campaign against the Tennessee Valley Authority by United Mountain Defense, Three Rivers Earth First!, and Mountain Justice has been not only valuable, but priceless. The hours spent in public hearing, submitting complaints, spreading awareness, writing press releases, making signs, planning actions, chanting, singing, crying, demanding, and pleading, were not in vain. They were in victory!!
August 20,2009 TVA board meeting link http://www.tva.gov/abouttva/board/index.htm#820
Today it was reported that at TVA's board meeting on August 20, 2009 that TVA will most likely be closing down at least two coal burning power plants including Rogersville, TN and Widow's Creek, Alabama. This is such good news and a victory for United Mountain Defense, Mountain Justice, and Three Rivers Earth First! that have all been shining light on TVA's dirty little secrets, their coal burning power plant fleet. As I type this TVA has been buying up property around Widow's Creek to provide a safety buffer around the coal ash piles and gypsum ponds. They are also supposedly digging giant holes around the Rogersville Power Plant for some unknown reason. These closure actions are unprecedented in the history of the struggle against coal burning power plants and specifically against TVA. TVA has caved to public pressure and is closing down their old coal burners. As the largest purchaser of coal in the country TVA is a trend setter and we will continue to push for the conversion of ALL of TVA's dirty power plants to clean safe renewable energy. For now let us celebrate but also keep up the pressure as our protests are obviously working.....
Within our grassroots struggle for justice, clear and measurable victories are not always apparent and plentiful. As keepers of the long term agenda and volunteers of the earth, our labor is continuous but often overlooked. Not today. Never in the history of this struggle has a coal- fired power plant been stopped, not in the permit process, but in the peak of its life span.
From the number one purchaser of coal in North America, this means thousands of tons of coal that would have been ripped from the mountains of central Appalachia will not be. This means billions of dollars that would have been wired into the pockets of Coal Executives will not be. This means millions of gallons of coal ash and slurry that would have been generated over the next decades will not be.
This means the long standing campaign against the Tennessee Valley Authority by United Mountain Defense, Three Rivers Earth First!, and Mountain Justice has been not only valuable, but priceless. The hours spent in public hearing, submitting complaints, spreading awareness, writing press releases, making signs, planning actions, chanting, singing, crying, demanding, and pleading, were not in vain. They were in victory!!
UMD, Mountain Justice, and Three Rivers Earth First! organize the Mobilization for Clean Air July 26, 2009
TVA has been polluting the air of more than 7 states across the Southeast with filthy coal for more than 50 years now and it is time to stop them! Residents from across East Tennessee and Appalachia converged on Knoxville, TN to show their support for clean air and to tell TVA to stop burning coal. We had speakers from Knoxville, Roane County, and Eagan, TN. There were musical performances, poets, street theater, larger than life puppets, and a drum corp called Cakalak Thunder that all added to the energy of the event. The rally was followed by a lively march around the TVA towers and through downtown Knoxville. TVA is the largest public utility purchasing coal in North America and they should use this leadership role to move toward renewable energy generation and phase out old coal burning powerplants. We made a video about the Sunday action and here it is-----www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekoWkRx9K8M
Sunday, April 5, 2009
TVA Coal Ash Disaster Truck Tracking with Bob Alexander of TDEC and Gil Francis of TVA
Dear folks,
Here is another video of the TN state regulators, TDEC doing a less than fine job of keeping TN's environment safe from coal fly ash.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_3XCH1mWzg
Thanks, matt landon full time volunteer staff United Mountain Defense and dedicated Roane County Volunteer
Here is another video of the TN state regulators, TDEC doing a less than fine job of keeping TN's environment safe from coal fly ash.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_3XCH1mWzg
Thanks, matt landon full time volunteer staff United Mountain Defense and dedicated Roane County Volunteer
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Jan 24- Feb 2, 2009 Updates from United Mountain Defense about TVA's coal ash disaster
Feb 2, 2009 Monday
Dear folks,
(please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com
Check out www.tennesseecoalashsurvivorsnetwork.com
Check out http://tncasn.blogspot.com
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
Today was the second day of training from the Global Community Monitor. Today Diana Anderson of the TN Coal Ash Survivors Network and Matt Landon of United Mountain Defense learned how to operate Air Metric’s Mini Volume air monitor. This machine is very user friendly and maintains its calibration for one year.
The air monitoring volunteers learned about how to use various filters for the monitors and how to maintain the integrity of the filter sample. They learned how to troubleshoot the monitoring machine. They also learned about properly mounting the monitor on power poles or house roofs and other important sighting instructions.
Anderson and Landon also learned about filling out chain of custody forms, and how to tamper proof the filter cases for shipping to the lab.
We finally got back to TN’s community map we had drawn two days prior. After reviewing this map with GCM staff we decided on locations for Swipe Testing and then Air Quality Testing.
More importantly we learned about the impacts of air pollution on other communities and how similar their concerns are to our own concerns.
We ended the training by looking to the future. Matt Landon of United Mountain Defense helped bring the Bucket Brigade to Appalachia in order to provide another community organizing tool that would give back to the communities. He envisioned using TVA’s coal ash disaster as a pilot project to show how easy it is for communities to do this type of monitoring and help bring it to coal impacted communities across the region. He wants to see Bucket Brigades at Marsh Fork Elementary School in West Virginia and at surface coal mines, coal processing plants, and coal burning plants across the region. Won’t you help?
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
Feb 1, 2009 Sunday
Dear folks,
(please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com
Check out www.tennesseecoalashsurvivorsnetwork.com
Check out http://tncasn.blogspot.com
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
Super Bowl Sunday was spent researching a number of online sources of data that we had left untapped till this point.
Matt Landon, United Mountain Defense volunteer staff person, took a virtual car ride through the Swan Pond Community before the coal ash disaster using Google Street View. He found photos of the leaking dam located at 1222 Swan Pond Rd. There was photographic evidence of red iron oxide and heavy metal laden water leaking from the toe of the dam. Whenever water is leaking from the base of the damn it is a bad sign and could foreshadow failure.
We also viewed Roane County property tax maps online. These property maps incorporated aerial photography as well making the property searches so much easier. These maps were not up to date as they did not show the properties recently purchased by TVA along Berkshire Ln and Lakeshore Rd.
Diana Anderson of the TN Coal Ash Survivors Network and Matt Landon of United Mountain Defense met with Sarah Goldberg of the Kelley Campaign, a Public Relations group based in Washington DC. Sarah Goldberg was very excited to meet with us and learn more information about what was happening from our firsthand accounts. The Kelley Campaign has been working on a campaign to counter the “Cl*** Coal” campaign of 2008. The Kelley Campaign is working with United Mountain Defense to help amplify our media presence. They have a staff dedicated to writing press releases, distributing them to national and international media, and helping with ground work logistics like setting up citizen press conferences. This is the start to be a beautiful relationship……
After catching the last 15 minutes of the Super Bowl and seeing that incredible touchdown play by the PA Steelers Matt Landon helped Diana Anderson create her first blog. The blog’s title is the Tennessee Coal Ash Survivors Network. The blog’s address is http://tncasn.blogspot.com
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 31, 2009 Saturday
Dear folks,
(please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com
Check out www.tennesseecoalashsurvivorsnetwork.com
Check out http://tncasn.blogspot.com
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
Diana Anderson of the TN Coal Ash Survivors Network and Matt Landon of United Mountain Defense traveled to Deleware today to receive training from the Global Community Monitor (GCM) organization. www.gcmonitor.org
Matt Landon of UMD video taped the entire two day training session so that other community members in Deleware, TN, and the world could review the training. Today’s training consisted of learning about the history and successes of the Bucket Brigade, GCM’s most notable air monitoring project. The community that hosted us today was plagued by numerous polluting industries and was in the first steps of beginning to self monitor the air quality. One of the first steps in the process was called a log sheet. A brainstorming session led to the development of the “I SEE, I SMELL, I FEEL” sections for residents to fill out for each air pollution event. Based on these pollution log sheets GCM and the community would be able to decide where to put up Swipe Tests and then Mini Volume Air Monitors.
A really good excerise was for the community members to make a map of the major polluters in the area and show the locations of surrounding houses and other points of interest such as schools, hospitals, existing air monitors, and prevailing wind directions.
This training provided a good basis for how the Bucket Brigade would proceed in TN and we got one step closer to having a solid monitoring plan. Thank you Global Community Monitor for providing a helpful training session.
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 30, 2009 Friday
Dear folks,
(please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com
Check out www.tennesseecoalashsurvivorsnetwork.com
Check out http://tncasn.blogspot.com
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
United Mountain Defense volunteer staff person, Matt Landon was awoken to a call from a TN Highway Patrol officer calling from Arizona. The officer said he would send out an officer to the disaster site and would further investigate the CFR on solid waste to figure out about the solid waste regulations.
Landon traveled to the University of TN in Knoxville for a PodCast interview that was conducted at the college radio station, WUOT 91.9. The PodCast will be aired by On the Earth, a project of NRDC. Thanks, NRDC.
After the interview Landon did more research about the Mini Volume air samplers from Air Metrics and the different filters available for the sampler. He was also packing his bags at the same time for a flight to Washington DC.
Diana Anderson of TN Coal Ash Survivors Network and Matt Landon of United Mountain Defense boarded a flight to DC and then drove to Deleware for a two day training by the Global Community Monitor (GCM). GCM is a non profit organization that has trained community members around the globe to use various air monitoring techniques and equipment in order to gather independent data on their own. GCM is currently working with 18 impacted communities across the globe and is very excited about beginning to work in Appalachia on the issue of FILTHY COAL.
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 29, 2009 Thursday
Dear folks,
(please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com
Check out www.tennesseecoalashsurvivorsnetwork.com
Check out http://tncasn.blogspot.com
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
Bonnie Swinford, UMD volunteer coordinator finalized the water monitoring data with Jeff Stant on UMD’s Google map for 3 hours. Good job, Bonnie!!
Matt Landon, UMD volunteer staff took a boat ride on Emory River with TN Wildlife Resources Agency. Until this point Landon had mistakenly thought that a rock weir had been constructed across the Emory River to contain the coal fly ash. Upon boating up the river he learned that TVA had temporarily abandoned this Emory River rock weir project. The boat shuttled the History Channel’s camera crew, reporter, and Matt Landon up and down the river next to the disaster site numerous times in order to get the best shots and to provide enough time to interview TWRA’s Bobby Brown and UMD’s Matt Landon. Landon used the new YSI digital water monitor purchased with a grant from the NRDC. Thank you NRDC!! We were able to check for specific conductivity, pH, dissolved oxygen, and temperature.
Once we got off the river and defrosted our hands Landon led the History Channel crew to Lakeshore Drive for an interview with Rick Cantrell, a local resident whose family was evacuated by TVA. Cantrell gave a stellar interview.
Landon called Paul Sloan of TDEC and the TN Highway Patrol after video taping vehicles exiting the disaster site without being washed first.
A community volunteer meeting was organized for the evening at the Roane State Expo Center. At this meeting the volunteers decided on what content to put on their website, what was their group’s name, and when and where the next volunteer meeting would be held. The Tennessee Coal Ash Survivors Network came into existence. Their website is www.tennesseecoalashsurvivorsnetwork.com and they have a blog at http://tncasn.blogspot.com
Diana Anderson of TCASN offered to host the next volunteer meeting.
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 28, 2009 Wenesday
Dear folks,
(please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com
Check out www.tennesseecoalashsurvivorsnetwork.com
Check out http://tncasn.blogspot.com
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
There was a fundraiser set up in Nashville, TN. Local resident, Rick Cantrell attended the fundraiser and spoke about the difficulties his community is facing at this time with TVA’s coal ash disaster. Cantrell reported that nearly 100 people attended the fundraiser where local old time musicians strummed banjos and guitars.
United Mountain Defense volunteer staff person, Matt Landon made phone calls reminding local residents about the volunteer meeting on Thursday night. Landon also received his first email from Bob Alexander of TDEC admitting that TDEC was allowing vehicles to drive off site with coal ash on them.
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 27, 2009 Tuesday
Dear folks,
(please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com
Check out www.tennesseecoalashsurvivorsnetwork.com
Check out http://tncasn.blogspot.com
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
United Mountain Defense volunteer staff person, Matt Landon called all of the regulatory agencies to report the problems of coal ash tracking. Landon called TN Highway Patrol, TN Bureau of Investigation, Bob Alexander of TDEC, EPA criminal division. After speaking with the EPA criminal division Landon was told he would be called by TVA’s OIG in the next week. Landon learned that EPA can’t regulate coal fly ash tracking. EPA doesn’t investigate it because it is not a hazardous waste. After speaking with the TBI, Landon emailed the District Attorney about the tracking problem to file an official compliant.
United Mountain Defense volunteers worked on gathering releases from residents who received heavy metal exposure screening. They picked up disaster photos that were taken to Washington DC. Bonnie and Tom picked up some more human samples for the heavy metal exposure testing. These samples were kept on ice then refrigerated until they were delivered to Internal Balance on Wenesday Jan 28, 2009.
UMD volunteers distributed TVA’s coal fly ash Material Safety Data Sheets to the local residents as they drove around the community.
Matt Landon spoke with a local resident, Judy Scofield, who has had massive asthma attacks since the coal ash disaster occurred. She is now using a steroid inhaler to help her breath. Landon was near tears as she retold her story. He offered to have a call in day to the TVA to politely ask TVA to call Judy Scofield. Judy had not received any phone calls from TVA for nearly two weeks after requesting to be evacuated after a doctor’s suggestion about her respiratory distress being linked to TVA’s coal ash. After the first day of the call in campaign for Judy Scofield she received a phone call from TVA. They informed her they would send CTEH out to check the air quality. Unfortunately CTEH is using inadequate air monitoring equipment. CTEH showed up and after a few minutes told Judy the air was okay.
The call in campaign continues until Judy Scofield is moved to a safer location by TVA.
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 26, 2009 Monday
Dear folks,
(please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com
Check out www.tennesseecoalashsurvivorsnetwork.com
Check out http://tncasn.blogspot.com
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
Bonnie Swinford, UMD’s volunteer coordinator and grant writer has provided major support of ALL of the work that has occurred around TVA’s coal ash disaster. Today Bonnie submitted receipts for multiple grants, updated UMD’s project budget, and made copies of TVA’s Material Safety Data Sheets.
Matt Landon got an email from TDEC about their air quality monitoring after calling TDEC to figure out why they had not installed the high volume air quality monitors around the disaster site. He learned that TDEC had chosen to not install more than one high volume air monitor.
Matt Landon got background air monitoring data from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for the past 20 years after emailing Jim Renfro for assistance in Harriman, TN.
It was finally time to get back down to get back to the disaster site. Matt Landon had promised to take a Eva to the doctor on the previous Friday due to her deep lung cough. Unfortunately he was not able to take her on Friday and so awoke early Monday morning and drove her to the doctor. Her doctor could not give her a diagnosis but did offer to set up an appointment with a lung specialist in Oak Ridge, TN and gave her a prescription for Cipro, a strong antibiotic. The doctor thought that her deep lung cough was caused by a bacteria. Eva was not able to afford the anti biotic so she had to wait until Feb 1 to get the prescription.
After the doctor’s visit I offered to drive Eva around to see the rest of the disaster site. Eva does not have a vehicle and walks everywhere because she is legally blind in one eye. Her grand daughter is not old enough to drive either. Even though she lives within ½ a mile of the disaster site she has not seem it yet as no one helped her get there yet.
As we drove around the Swan Pond Community we saw that one of the local churches driveways was open after being blockaded for the past four weeks. As we drove up to the cemetery overlooking the disaster site Eva gasped as she saw the destruction. She commented that she had fished many an afternoon in that part of the lake that was now completely filled in by TVA’s coal ash. She just kept repeating that TVA had made such a mess, TVA had made such a mess.
While we were peacefully observing the work at the disaster site a TVA police officer came up the driveway and pulled to a halt in front of our vehicle. Matt Landon was recording and turned the camera on the TVA officer. This officer did not like the camera and asked for identification which Matt Landon produced. The officer got back in his vehicle and drove away with his ID. Upon returning the officer instructed Landon and Eva to evacuate the premises. Of course they complied immediately.
The whole time the video tape was rolling UMD was recording dirty dump trucks and other unwashed vehicles leaving TVA’s coal ash disaster site while tracking coal fly ash out onto the public roads of Roane County and East TN.
As Landon and Eva drove around on the public roads of Roane County they videotaped the work at TVA’s coal ash disaster. Upon driving on Berkshire Rd they were once again pulled over by the TVA police and Landon was given a citation for trespassing, his second citation for trespassing from TVA. Later Landon found out that TVA has bought all of the property along Berkshire Rd so it is their property.
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 25, 2009 Sunday
Dear folks,
(please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com
Check out www.tennesseecoalashsurvivorsnetwork.com
Check out http://tncasn.blogspot.com
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
Today we celebrated Tom’s birthday. Tom is Bonnie’s dad and he recently chose to move down to TN from Indianapolis. He was temporarily living at the UMD volunteer house until he found a house of his own. He did find a house and then this coal ash disaster occurred and he has been on the ground since Dec 22, 2008.
Matt Landon of United Mountain Defense sent out a procedure for doing a swipe test to the Swan Pond community email list serve after receiving multiple requests.
Chris Irwin, UMD staff attorney took a Gentlemen’s Quarterly reporter and photographer up to the King Mountain Mountainside Coal surface mine in Claiborne County near Eagan, TN to photograph the complete cycle of coal, from the cradle to the grave.
Later in the evening UMD had a board meeting where a plan of action was generated for the upcoming week.
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 24, 2009 Saturday
Dear folks,
(please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com
Check out www.tennesseecoalashsurvivorsnetwork.com
Check out http://tncasn.blogspot.com
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
A good portion of the day was spent helping get the carpet installed in the United Mountain Defense volunteer house. Chris Irwin, UMD staff attorney, took GQ magazine in a Southwings flyover of the TVA coal ash disaster site, the windfarm on Buffalo Mountain, and the surface coal mines of East Tennessee. GQ is writing about coal from the cradle to the grave with surface mines and destruction of the highland watersheds being the cradle. The TVA coal ash disaster shows the end product of coal cycle, the grave.
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
Dear folks,
(please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com
Check out www.tennesseecoalashsurvivorsnetwork.com
Check out http://tncasn.blogspot.com
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
Today was the second day of training from the Global Community Monitor. Today Diana Anderson of the TN Coal Ash Survivors Network and Matt Landon of United Mountain Defense learned how to operate Air Metric’s Mini Volume air monitor. This machine is very user friendly and maintains its calibration for one year.
The air monitoring volunteers learned about how to use various filters for the monitors and how to maintain the integrity of the filter sample. They learned how to troubleshoot the monitoring machine. They also learned about properly mounting the monitor on power poles or house roofs and other important sighting instructions.
Anderson and Landon also learned about filling out chain of custody forms, and how to tamper proof the filter cases for shipping to the lab.
We finally got back to TN’s community map we had drawn two days prior. After reviewing this map with GCM staff we decided on locations for Swipe Testing and then Air Quality Testing.
More importantly we learned about the impacts of air pollution on other communities and how similar their concerns are to our own concerns.
We ended the training by looking to the future. Matt Landon of United Mountain Defense helped bring the Bucket Brigade to Appalachia in order to provide another community organizing tool that would give back to the communities. He envisioned using TVA’s coal ash disaster as a pilot project to show how easy it is for communities to do this type of monitoring and help bring it to coal impacted communities across the region. He wants to see Bucket Brigades at Marsh Fork Elementary School in West Virginia and at surface coal mines, coal processing plants, and coal burning plants across the region. Won’t you help?
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
Feb 1, 2009 Sunday
Dear folks,
(please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com
Check out www.tennesseecoalashsurvivorsnetwork.com
Check out http://tncasn.blogspot.com
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
Super Bowl Sunday was spent researching a number of online sources of data that we had left untapped till this point.
Matt Landon, United Mountain Defense volunteer staff person, took a virtual car ride through the Swan Pond Community before the coal ash disaster using Google Street View. He found photos of the leaking dam located at 1222 Swan Pond Rd. There was photographic evidence of red iron oxide and heavy metal laden water leaking from the toe of the dam. Whenever water is leaking from the base of the damn it is a bad sign and could foreshadow failure.
We also viewed Roane County property tax maps online. These property maps incorporated aerial photography as well making the property searches so much easier. These maps were not up to date as they did not show the properties recently purchased by TVA along Berkshire Ln and Lakeshore Rd.
Diana Anderson of the TN Coal Ash Survivors Network and Matt Landon of United Mountain Defense met with Sarah Goldberg of the Kelley Campaign, a Public Relations group based in Washington DC. Sarah Goldberg was very excited to meet with us and learn more information about what was happening from our firsthand accounts. The Kelley Campaign has been working on a campaign to counter the “Cl*** Coal” campaign of 2008. The Kelley Campaign is working with United Mountain Defense to help amplify our media presence. They have a staff dedicated to writing press releases, distributing them to national and international media, and helping with ground work logistics like setting up citizen press conferences. This is the start to be a beautiful relationship……
After catching the last 15 minutes of the Super Bowl and seeing that incredible touchdown play by the PA Steelers Matt Landon helped Diana Anderson create her first blog. The blog’s title is the Tennessee Coal Ash Survivors Network. The blog’s address is http://tncasn.blogspot.com
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 31, 2009 Saturday
Dear folks,
(please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com
Check out www.tennesseecoalashsurvivorsnetwork.com
Check out http://tncasn.blogspot.com
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
Diana Anderson of the TN Coal Ash Survivors Network and Matt Landon of United Mountain Defense traveled to Deleware today to receive training from the Global Community Monitor (GCM) organization. www.gcmonitor.org
Matt Landon of UMD video taped the entire two day training session so that other community members in Deleware, TN, and the world could review the training. Today’s training consisted of learning about the history and successes of the Bucket Brigade, GCM’s most notable air monitoring project. The community that hosted us today was plagued by numerous polluting industries and was in the first steps of beginning to self monitor the air quality. One of the first steps in the process was called a log sheet. A brainstorming session led to the development of the “I SEE, I SMELL, I FEEL” sections for residents to fill out for each air pollution event. Based on these pollution log sheets GCM and the community would be able to decide where to put up Swipe Tests and then Mini Volume Air Monitors.
A really good excerise was for the community members to make a map of the major polluters in the area and show the locations of surrounding houses and other points of interest such as schools, hospitals, existing air monitors, and prevailing wind directions.
This training provided a good basis for how the Bucket Brigade would proceed in TN and we got one step closer to having a solid monitoring plan. Thank you Global Community Monitor for providing a helpful training session.
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 30, 2009 Friday
Dear folks,
(please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com
Check out www.tennesseecoalashsurvivorsnetwork.com
Check out http://tncasn.blogspot.com
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
United Mountain Defense volunteer staff person, Matt Landon was awoken to a call from a TN Highway Patrol officer calling from Arizona. The officer said he would send out an officer to the disaster site and would further investigate the CFR on solid waste to figure out about the solid waste regulations.
Landon traveled to the University of TN in Knoxville for a PodCast interview that was conducted at the college radio station, WUOT 91.9. The PodCast will be aired by On the Earth, a project of NRDC. Thanks, NRDC.
After the interview Landon did more research about the Mini Volume air samplers from Air Metrics and the different filters available for the sampler. He was also packing his bags at the same time for a flight to Washington DC.
Diana Anderson of TN Coal Ash Survivors Network and Matt Landon of United Mountain Defense boarded a flight to DC and then drove to Deleware for a two day training by the Global Community Monitor (GCM). GCM is a non profit organization that has trained community members around the globe to use various air monitoring techniques and equipment in order to gather independent data on their own. GCM is currently working with 18 impacted communities across the globe and is very excited about beginning to work in Appalachia on the issue of FILTHY COAL.
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 29, 2009 Thursday
Dear folks,
(please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com
Check out www.tennesseecoalashsurvivorsnetwork.com
Check out http://tncasn.blogspot.com
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
Bonnie Swinford, UMD volunteer coordinator finalized the water monitoring data with Jeff Stant on UMD’s Google map for 3 hours. Good job, Bonnie!!
Matt Landon, UMD volunteer staff took a boat ride on Emory River with TN Wildlife Resources Agency. Until this point Landon had mistakenly thought that a rock weir had been constructed across the Emory River to contain the coal fly ash. Upon boating up the river he learned that TVA had temporarily abandoned this Emory River rock weir project. The boat shuttled the History Channel’s camera crew, reporter, and Matt Landon up and down the river next to the disaster site numerous times in order to get the best shots and to provide enough time to interview TWRA’s Bobby Brown and UMD’s Matt Landon. Landon used the new YSI digital water monitor purchased with a grant from the NRDC. Thank you NRDC!! We were able to check for specific conductivity, pH, dissolved oxygen, and temperature.
Once we got off the river and defrosted our hands Landon led the History Channel crew to Lakeshore Drive for an interview with Rick Cantrell, a local resident whose family was evacuated by TVA. Cantrell gave a stellar interview.
Landon called Paul Sloan of TDEC and the TN Highway Patrol after video taping vehicles exiting the disaster site without being washed first.
A community volunteer meeting was organized for the evening at the Roane State Expo Center. At this meeting the volunteers decided on what content to put on their website, what was their group’s name, and when and where the next volunteer meeting would be held. The Tennessee Coal Ash Survivors Network came into existence. Their website is www.tennesseecoalashsurvivorsnetwork.com and they have a blog at http://tncasn.blogspot.com
Diana Anderson of TCASN offered to host the next volunteer meeting.
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 28, 2009 Wenesday
Dear folks,
(please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com
Check out www.tennesseecoalashsurvivorsnetwork.com
Check out http://tncasn.blogspot.com
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
There was a fundraiser set up in Nashville, TN. Local resident, Rick Cantrell attended the fundraiser and spoke about the difficulties his community is facing at this time with TVA’s coal ash disaster. Cantrell reported that nearly 100 people attended the fundraiser where local old time musicians strummed banjos and guitars.
United Mountain Defense volunteer staff person, Matt Landon made phone calls reminding local residents about the volunteer meeting on Thursday night. Landon also received his first email from Bob Alexander of TDEC admitting that TDEC was allowing vehicles to drive off site with coal ash on them.
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 27, 2009 Tuesday
Dear folks,
(please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com
Check out www.tennesseecoalashsurvivorsnetwork.com
Check out http://tncasn.blogspot.com
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
United Mountain Defense volunteer staff person, Matt Landon called all of the regulatory agencies to report the problems of coal ash tracking. Landon called TN Highway Patrol, TN Bureau of Investigation, Bob Alexander of TDEC, EPA criminal division. After speaking with the EPA criminal division Landon was told he would be called by TVA’s OIG in the next week. Landon learned that EPA can’t regulate coal fly ash tracking. EPA doesn’t investigate it because it is not a hazardous waste. After speaking with the TBI, Landon emailed the District Attorney about the tracking problem to file an official compliant.
United Mountain Defense volunteers worked on gathering releases from residents who received heavy metal exposure screening. They picked up disaster photos that were taken to Washington DC. Bonnie and Tom picked up some more human samples for the heavy metal exposure testing. These samples were kept on ice then refrigerated until they were delivered to Internal Balance on Wenesday Jan 28, 2009.
UMD volunteers distributed TVA’s coal fly ash Material Safety Data Sheets to the local residents as they drove around the community.
Matt Landon spoke with a local resident, Judy Scofield, who has had massive asthma attacks since the coal ash disaster occurred. She is now using a steroid inhaler to help her breath. Landon was near tears as she retold her story. He offered to have a call in day to the TVA to politely ask TVA to call Judy Scofield. Judy had not received any phone calls from TVA for nearly two weeks after requesting to be evacuated after a doctor’s suggestion about her respiratory distress being linked to TVA’s coal ash. After the first day of the call in campaign for Judy Scofield she received a phone call from TVA. They informed her they would send CTEH out to check the air quality. Unfortunately CTEH is using inadequate air monitoring equipment. CTEH showed up and after a few minutes told Judy the air was okay.
The call in campaign continues until Judy Scofield is moved to a safer location by TVA.
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 26, 2009 Monday
Dear folks,
(please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com
Check out www.tennesseecoalashsurvivorsnetwork.com
Check out http://tncasn.blogspot.com
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
Bonnie Swinford, UMD’s volunteer coordinator and grant writer has provided major support of ALL of the work that has occurred around TVA’s coal ash disaster. Today Bonnie submitted receipts for multiple grants, updated UMD’s project budget, and made copies of TVA’s Material Safety Data Sheets.
Matt Landon got an email from TDEC about their air quality monitoring after calling TDEC to figure out why they had not installed the high volume air quality monitors around the disaster site. He learned that TDEC had chosen to not install more than one high volume air monitor.
Matt Landon got background air monitoring data from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park for the past 20 years after emailing Jim Renfro for assistance in Harriman, TN.
It was finally time to get back down to get back to the disaster site. Matt Landon had promised to take a Eva to the doctor on the previous Friday due to her deep lung cough. Unfortunately he was not able to take her on Friday and so awoke early Monday morning and drove her to the doctor. Her doctor could not give her a diagnosis but did offer to set up an appointment with a lung specialist in Oak Ridge, TN and gave her a prescription for Cipro, a strong antibiotic. The doctor thought that her deep lung cough was caused by a bacteria. Eva was not able to afford the anti biotic so she had to wait until Feb 1 to get the prescription.
After the doctor’s visit I offered to drive Eva around to see the rest of the disaster site. Eva does not have a vehicle and walks everywhere because she is legally blind in one eye. Her grand daughter is not old enough to drive either. Even though she lives within ½ a mile of the disaster site she has not seem it yet as no one helped her get there yet.
As we drove around the Swan Pond Community we saw that one of the local churches driveways was open after being blockaded for the past four weeks. As we drove up to the cemetery overlooking the disaster site Eva gasped as she saw the destruction. She commented that she had fished many an afternoon in that part of the lake that was now completely filled in by TVA’s coal ash. She just kept repeating that TVA had made such a mess, TVA had made such a mess.
While we were peacefully observing the work at the disaster site a TVA police officer came up the driveway and pulled to a halt in front of our vehicle. Matt Landon was recording and turned the camera on the TVA officer. This officer did not like the camera and asked for identification which Matt Landon produced. The officer got back in his vehicle and drove away with his ID. Upon returning the officer instructed Landon and Eva to evacuate the premises. Of course they complied immediately.
The whole time the video tape was rolling UMD was recording dirty dump trucks and other unwashed vehicles leaving TVA’s coal ash disaster site while tracking coal fly ash out onto the public roads of Roane County and East TN.
As Landon and Eva drove around on the public roads of Roane County they videotaped the work at TVA’s coal ash disaster. Upon driving on Berkshire Rd they were once again pulled over by the TVA police and Landon was given a citation for trespassing, his second citation for trespassing from TVA. Later Landon found out that TVA has bought all of the property along Berkshire Rd so it is their property.
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 25, 2009 Sunday
Dear folks,
(please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com
Check out www.tennesseecoalashsurvivorsnetwork.com
Check out http://tncasn.blogspot.com
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
Today we celebrated Tom’s birthday. Tom is Bonnie’s dad and he recently chose to move down to TN from Indianapolis. He was temporarily living at the UMD volunteer house until he found a house of his own. He did find a house and then this coal ash disaster occurred and he has been on the ground since Dec 22, 2008.
Matt Landon of United Mountain Defense sent out a procedure for doing a swipe test to the Swan Pond community email list serve after receiving multiple requests.
Chris Irwin, UMD staff attorney took a Gentlemen’s Quarterly reporter and photographer up to the King Mountain Mountainside Coal surface mine in Claiborne County near Eagan, TN to photograph the complete cycle of coal, from the cradle to the grave.
Later in the evening UMD had a board meeting where a plan of action was generated for the upcoming week.
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 24, 2009 Saturday
Dear folks,
(please repost to all news sources)
Check out www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com
Check out www.tennesseecoalashsurvivorsnetwork.com
Check out http://tncasn.blogspot.com
Check out http://www.roaneviews.com/
Check out Swan Pond Resident: http://lifeonswanpond.livejournal.com/
A good portion of the day was spent helping get the carpet installed in the United Mountain Defense volunteer house. Chris Irwin, UMD staff attorney, took GQ magazine in a Southwings flyover of the TVA coal ash disaster site, the windfarm on Buffalo Mountain, and the surface coal mines of East Tennessee. GQ is writing about coal from the cradle to the grave with surface mines and destruction of the highland watersheds being the cradle. The TVA coal ash disaster shows the end product of coal cycle, the grave.
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
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Federal, State, Roane County Elected Officials, Governement Agencies Contacts
http://governmentcontactsforroanecounty.blogspot.com/
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Dec 22, 2008 4pm TVA Ash Pond Failure and resulting Valley Fill
The members, volunteers, and volunteer staff of United Mountain Defense were sorry to learn of the man-made disaster that TVA brought to the residents of Roane County. We understand the importance of the situation and that is why we have had volunteers on the ground since day 1. The following is an section of a report back from day 1. It was not meant to be disrespectful to the tragedy that occurred, the author was in as much shock as the coal impacted residents of Harriman and Kingston. Santa appeared because he had been protesting TVA for weeks leading up this disaster.
"The flood that happened this morning at 1am was pretty horrific. Santa flew down there to Harriman at 4pm just as the after work crowds of sightseers were beginning to increase. He met a lady and her daughter that had had their house flooded away as he was passing out flyers and Tennessee Mountain Defender newspapers. He asked how he could help and she said her husband worked for TVA and thought it may cause more problems than help. Santa also learned that only one person or family had shown up at the Red Cross shelter.
So the media was very weird, most of the stories were happening from the air in helicopters. The little media that was on the ground did not seem very interested that Santa was there to protest TVA. Santa spoke with the Tennessean journalist and photographer and distributed info to them. Santa grabbed a coal ash sludge sample but didn't see anyone else grabbing samples. He then proceeded back to the other media stronghold on TVA property and blasted them with the bullhorn to make sure that they knew Santa was watching and had seen how naughty TVA had been this year. All of this was caught on video so keep your eyes peeled for the latest Santa update. Santa is headed back down there tomorrow to figure out what else is going on. "
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