Two environmental activists were detained by the Tennessee Valley Authority police for photographing the site of last weeks ash spill. While it does not appear that they will be charged with crimes, they were unable to document the ash spill’s effects on the area and its water supply.
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The men, who are from the Knoxville based United Mountain Defense, say that TVA has yet to release the water toxicity results. They say they have the right to take their own measurements and photographs unless TVA shows their results. “This is an issue of national importance,” said David Cooper. “People need to know if the water is safe or not.”
The environmental disaster, which covered 400 acres in ash, has demonstrated the fragility of supposed ecological safeguards. It begs the question of whether or not we can trust the same people who created the problem to give us accurate information about the disaster’s clean up and aftermath. The activists said that they will take their water samples and run the required tests.
While the men were let go and forced to leave the premises after an hour of detainment, in some ways our collective rights were infringed upon. If we cannot simply gather data without being harassed by police, then what actions can we freely and safely take?
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Jerry Greer
Archer, the TVA, as has been already noted, is a corporation run by the US Federal Government. It is wholly owned by the US Federal Government, and there’s no way the US Federal Government will ever admit fault or take any action against the police in question.
(I’ve repeated about the US Federal Government just so no one can ever accuse this spill of being done by “greedy capitalists” without looking like buffoons.)
Ditto Tom. If they are collecting water samples from a river, and taking pictures of coal ash that was spilled all over both public and private property, then there is no real legal basis for detaining them.
I plan to go visit the site this weekend to take pictures. I am a journalist in NC, and if they detain me and remove me from the premises (especially from public property), I will gladly write it about.
Frank,
Were you on Swan Pond Road or over, across the reservoir, on Pinnacle/Emory River Road? There’s only about 300 yards of road next to the sludge on Swan Pond that is accessible by the public. They put up cones with tape along all of the parking areas in the Swan Pond area so that you can’t park. The loop road is closed and Swan Pond heading toward the plant will be closed for some time.
It’s good to hear that they are relaxing their stance on information gathering. I’d say that all of the press on how they’ve been treating people has forced them to change their tactics. I hope they just keep sitting back and relaxing a bit more. I want to come back up and shoot a few more pix. Maybe even bring my kayak for a closer look.
BTW, I went to http://www.coalcandothat.com/ and posted to the blog about the the Kingston Fossil Plant disaster and they refuse to allow the comment. I say that we bombard them with posts!