Opinion ID: 2805006
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: TVA and the coal-ash spill

Text: TVA is a corporate agency and instrumentality of the United States, created by and existing pursuant to the Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 1933. 16 U.S.C. § 831 et seq.; see also Tenn. Valley Auth. v. Kinzer, 142 F.2d 833, 837 (6th Cir. 1944). The KIF plant is a coalfired plant generating electricity in Roane County, Tennessee. A byproduct of burning coal for the generation of electricity is coal ash. On December 22, 2008, a coal-ash containment dike at the KIF plant failed, spilling approximately 5.4 million cubic yards of coal-ash sludge over 300 acres of adjacent land. Chesney v. Tenn. Valley Auth., 782 F. Supp. 2d 570, 571-73 (E.D. Tenn. 2011). TVA and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) responded to the coal-ash spill as required by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) and the EPA’s National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan. See Mays v. Tenn. Valley Auth., 699 F. Supp. 2d 991, 998 (E.D. Tenn. 2010). During this initial emergency-response phase, the EPA delegated its authority to TVA to remove the coal ash. Id. (citing 42 U.S.C. §§ 9604(a)-(b); id. § 9615; 40 C.F.R. § 300.5). TVA has been the lead No. 14-6207 Adkisson et al. v. Jacobs Eng’g Grp., Inc. Page 3 agency authority for all further coal-ash cleanup, removal, and remediation since the EPA terminated the initial emergency-response phase on January 11, 2009. Id.