Environment
Flooding concerns halt Fairview development
For months, residents of Fairview showed up to local government meetings, armed with photographs of flooded basements and overflowing culverts. “We cannot sustain any more water, not a single drop,” Diane Miller told the Fairview Board of Commissioners in April of last year as board members weighed whether to approve an 180-home subdivision – one […]
Land use dispute pits prominent Nashville family against conservation group
Thousands of years ago, Native Americans, wild animals and later,early white settlers traveled along the Natchez Trace, on what is now Vaughn Road in Williamson County. Around the corner lies Sneed Road, where Native Americans once settled alongside the Harpeth River, building their villages and homes on higher plains to avoid flooding, and burying their […]
Tennessee Health Department, TDEC, confirm toxic waste at Anderson County playground
State regulators have confirmed the presence of Tennessee Valley Authority radioactive coal ash waste at a playground in Anderson County — confirming the findings last year of a Duke University study that first revealed the threat to children playing there. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the Tennessee Department of Health issued a […]
OSHA officials admit to shredding documents in Tennessee Valley Authority coal ash case
For two months, teams of workers had been toiling around the clock to clean up a colossal spill of toxic coal ash unleashed in East Tennessee when a containment wall buckled, loosing millions of tons of the sludge across the landscape. They were working unprotected, secure in the knowledge they were safe because the Tennessee […]
Waverly, Tenn. flood survivors sue CSX rail company for “man made tidal wave”
Following unprecedented flooding that killed 22 people in Waverly, TN in late August last year, ten families announced a class action lawsuit yesterday against a local rail company they believe is partly responsible. The group says CSX Transportation knew about infrastructure problems with a levee that broke and caused a 7-ft tidal wave but chose […]
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation keeps Duck River withdrawal limits
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation has agreed to keep water withdrawal limitations intact to protect the Duck River, denying an appeal from Marshall County to drop limits. The Duck River, which is the longest river to be entirely contained in Tennessee, is also one of the most biologically diverse rivers in North America. […]
Federal judge in Tennessee dismisses suits on behalf of Gatlinburg wildfire victims
A federal judge has dismissed a slew of lawsuits filed on behalf of hundreds of victims of a deadly wildfire that swept through Gatlinburg more than five years ago. U.S. District Court Judge Ronnie Greer says the wildfire victims failed in preliminary claim forms to warn the National Park Service that they intended to accuse […]
Southern Environmental Law Center slams TVA with suit
The Southern Environmental Law Center has filed a lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority after its public records requests for contracts with methane-gas companies were met with heavily redacted records. In 2019, TVA, which produces electricity for nearly 10 million people across the Southeast, announced their plans to possibly retire several coal-fired plants throughout Tennessee […]
Tennessee House Commerce Committee passes amended pipeline bill
The House Commerce Committee passed a controversial energy infrastructure preemption bill that removes local control from communities, but with amendments proposed by environmental and community organizers. On Tuesday, committee members passed HB2246 to allow exceptions for local zoning codes and local actions that are state authorized, among other tweaks that have loosened the bill. According […]
Tennessee Senate passes bill to preempt local laws on oil and gas pipelines
The Tennessee Senate passed a controversial pipeline preemption bill on Thursday in spite of concerns about the effect oil and gas pipelines could have on personal property and drinking water. Before passage, Sen. Ken Yager, R-Kingston, sponsor of SB2077, amended the bill to allow for wellhead protections and to align with its House counterpart. Critics […]
Judges strike down Tennessee law allowing warrantless searches by state wildlife officials
The longstanding practice of conducting warrantless searches on private property by officers with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is unconstitutional, a three judge panel hearing a case in Benton County Circuit Court ruled Tuesday. The ruling invalidates Tennessee law that TWRA has relied on to conduct warrantless searches and surveillance on private land in order […]
Bill to override local control of pipelines spurs statewide backlash
On March 2, a seemingly innocuous bill in the Tennessee General Assembly proposed a study on energy infrastructure, but an amendment to remove local government’s ability to regulate fossil fuel infrastructure threw up red flags with legislators, local government officials and environmental groups. The bill was advancing quickly, and before a Senate committee meeting scheduled […]