Water Quality Monitoring
Unknown authors
Abstract
In response to the coal ash spill at the Tennessee Valley Authority's (TVA) Kingston Fossil Plant (KIF), TVA, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have collected surface water samples from the Emory, Clinch, and Tennessee Rivers.The objective of the surface water monitoring was to determine whether there was any immediate down-river migration of ashrelated constituents posing an imminent public health or environmental threat.Sampling was conducted at five Emory River, four Clinch River, and two Tennessee River locations.TVA sampled these locations two days per week and analyzed the samples for a 24 total and dissolved metals and total suspended solids.To monitor the effectiveness of best management practices to reduce ash migration during dredging, TVA performed daily monitoring of dredge plumes in the Emory River.TVA has collected more than 2,500 surface water samples since the spill.During the time-critical removal action, total arsenic in four Emory River surface water samples exceeded its Tennessee Domestic Water Supply Standard (TDWS) and Tennessee Water Quality Criterion (TWQC) of 0.01 mg/L.Dissolved copper exceeded the fish and aquatic life criterion in one sample at ERM 1.75.Total lead exceeded its TDWS in two Emory River samples at ERM 1.75.Thallium was detected in 64 samples, all of which exceeded its TWQC.This poster summarizes the results of TVA water quality monitoring a KIF during the period in which dredging of ash from the river was occurring.