Environment
Lookout in Brief: Byhalia Pipeline halted but Memphis Council still pushes protective legislation
The Byhalia Connection pipeline project has been abandoned by its developers but Memphis council members continue to push legislation to protect the Memphis Sand Aquifer. On Tuesday, an ordinance for protecting Shelby County’s natural water source was up for a final reading, but was withdrawn. In its place, councilmember JB Smiley introduced a substitute aquifer […]
State regulators plan to loosen runoff rules at construction sites
A state plan to rollback longstanding regulations for construction site runoff is drawing opposition from environmental groups who fear that Tennessee creeks ands streams will suffer. Stormwater discharges from construction sites —rainwater that sweeps soil or other particles off-site — can flow into nearby waterways, often creating silt deposits that impact aquatic life and water […]
‘Y’all are crappy neighbors’: Rutherford County residents slam landfill expansion plan at public hearing
Rutherford county residents on Monday evening blasted a plan to expand a regional landfill located in fast-growing Murfreesboro suburbs that serves as the final destination for trash from 27 surrounding counties. Republic Services, operators of the Middle Point Landfill, have proposed expanding the controversial landfill by nearly 100 acres, lengthening its estimated 7 years of […]
State lawmakers cut big oil a big break
Two weeks after the formal close of the Tennessee legislative season, a committee of lawmakers agreed to give the state’s petroleum companies a big break. The Joint Government Operations Committee approved new rules that shift the financial burden of cleaning up toxic spills at gas stations and truck stops from business owners to taxpayers for […]
While battles loom over landfills, Middle Tennessee hurtles toward a trash crisis
From a lawsuit over the rejected expansion of a landfill in Nashville to the protracted political battle over closing the landfill in Murfreesboro, the urgency of Middle Tennessee’s trash crisis has increased in intensity in recent months. The situation has all the ingredients for a political logjam. Neighborhoods across the region have made blocking new […]
Report: $126M price tag for cleaning up Tennessee’s abandoned coal fields
Tennessee has more than 14,000 acres of abandoned coal fields, but the cost of remediation —such as replanting trees and improving water quality — far outweigh the federal funding available to the state, a new report shows. The report by the Ohio River Valley Institute, a think tank dedicated to examining Appalachia, concluded that the […]
Tyson Foods’ expansion in west Tennessee is pitting longtime farmers against one of the nation’s biggest protein suppliers
BEECH BLUFF, TN — Larry Blankenship and his wife, Monica, lived in a trailer on his father’s farm for more than 30 years while saving for a home of their own. They finally did in 2019, moving into a pretty one-story ranch built where their trailer used to be. But their joy was short-lived; the […]
For-profit sewage providers are seeking access to public funds, a move environmental groups oppose
Last spring, neighbors in the River Rest Estates subdivision in Williamson County made an unpleasant discovery: a sewage-smelling sludge surging out of a manhole cover next to soccer fields in the community’s recreational areas. Strewn around the manhole were blobs of soiled toilet paper. In the nearby Cartwright Creek, some of the fish were dead. […]
Board denies landfill expansion plans in northwest Davidson County
Nashville’s Solid Waste Board has denied plans for the expansion of a controversial landfill that has, for decades, been the source of anger and frustration in Bordeaux, the largely African-American suburb northwest of downtown. The decision at the end of the four-hour meeting on Wednesday is not likely, however, to be the last say on […]
Elected officials add voices to debate over Nashville landfill in Black neighborhood
A public oversight board will meet Wednesday to weigh the future of a landfill in northwest Nashville that takes in 90 percent of all construction waste generated in the city but will reach capacity within the next three years. For decades, the Southern Services landfill has been the final destination for debris from commercial and […]