Jackson County Commission Meeting at North Jackson High School, Stevenson, Alabama; Jackson County Discretionary Fund Meeting

Monday was a busy schedule for the Jackson County Commission. First up was the Discretionary Funds meeting at the Legislative Delegation office at 10AM.


In the afternoon was the Jackson County Commission Meeting and Public Hearing at the North Jackson High School.

                                                 AGENDA

 

VIDEOS

 

Short Video of Public Hearing - Summary

Jackson County Commission at Scottsboro, Alabama - Regular Session & Public Hearing About TVA's Request to Vacate County Road 96 - 4 Part Video

 

The Jackson County Commission held its Regular Session and Public Hearing in Court Room 3. The video presentation because of length will be in 4 parts. Part 1 is the Regular Session; Parts 3-4 is the Public Hearing portion. There will be a commentary in Thursday's Daily Sentinel concerning TVA's request to close County Road 96 (CR 96)

 

Health Care Authority Board Appointments: Jimmy Bergman, Harold Brookshire, Bob Matthews, Jr.

See Regular Session Video, Part 1 below.

 

A concerned citizen who lives in the area near TVA's Widows Creek says he will be adversely affected by the closure of CR 96. His concerns were expressed to the County Commission and the TVA, quote: "The TVA has not been a good neighbor."

 

Clarions report on this issue: http://www.theclarion.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7271:tva-requests-closure-of-a-portion-of-county-road-96&catid=42:clarion-rotation-stories&Itemid=142

 

During the Public Hearing TVA was asked if the TVA's  coal ash and gypsum waste disposal remediation plan was available from TVA; TVA's comment was the plan is available. However, after the public hearing I asked where I could find TVA's plan. It was revealed that there is no single plan, but there are several documents. The plan for the coal ash/gypsum waste remediation has not been approved by ADEM, Alabama Department of Environmental Management. As of this writing, there are no approved  plan describing TVA's coal ash and gypsum waste remediation program concerning the Widows Creek Coal Fired Facility; nor a single source document describing TVA's specific /summary with an estimated time line and costs concerning the Widows Creek closure and coal ash/gypsum remediation plans. How much will it cost to maintain a one unit operating plant? The TVA should wait until ADEM has approved their plan before requesting the vacation (closing) of CR 96. The TVA revealed they will not be utilizing the bridge across the North portion of Widows Creek on CR 96, they will be building a new road to carry the heavy truck traffic across 600 acres of property TVA purchased north of CR 96. The question must be asked, why is TVA wanting to close CR 96 since they are going to build a new road to handle the truck traffic from the hauling area on the property recently purchased?

 

John Kammeyer, TVA Vice President of Civil Construction, stated to me there is no date to close the Widows Creek Coal fired facility as the TVA Board has not approved the closure of Unit 7 at Widows Creek. Unit 8 will close sometime in 2014; Units 1-6 are already closed. Widows Creek is the 2nd oldest coal fired plant in the TVA system and has received several pollution fines from the EPA, Environmental Protection Agency. 

 

TVA Information Sheet on Conversion of wet ash and gypsum to dry storage.

http://www.tva.gov/news/kingston/dry_ash.pdf

 

Contractor Report on Widows Creek, Stantec Review, amount of coal ash and gypsum waste:  http://www.tva.com/power/stantec/al/rpt_005_appndx_c_wcf_171468118.pdf

 

Hazards: http://www.tva.gov/power/stantec2/Oct%202010%20presentation.pdf  

 

EPA: http://www.epa.gov/wastes/nonhaz/industrial/special/fossil/surveys2/tva_bullrun_response.pdf

 

Source Watch about TVA & Coal

http://sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Tennessee_Valley_Authority

 

Previous article with video of CR 96 and Widows Creek

 http://arklite.blogspot.com/2013/12/widows-creek-public-hearing-tva.html

 

COMMISSION AGENDA

 

VIDEO, PART 1-Regular Session

 

VIDEO PART 2, Public Hearing, TVA and County Engineer Report



VIDEO PART 3, Public Hearing, Citizen Concerns



VIDEO PART 4, Public Hearing, Citizen Concerns-TVA provides excuses and double-talk for not having a single source document plan/summary for the Widows Creek Plant Shutdown/Decommission and Coal Ash/Gypsum Remediation. TVA claims there are a series of separate plans & documents. Part is in Montgomery awaiting approval, claims TVA.

WIDOWS CREEK - Public Hearing-TVA Requests Closure of County Road 96-VIDEO-No Comprehensive Plan on TVA's Proposed Action

 

WIDOWS CREEK VIDEO - CR 96

The TVA has submitted a request to the Jackson County Commission to vacate a section of Jackson County Rd. 96 from the bridge over Widows Creek to 1/4 mile south west of Al. Hwy 277 intersection. TVA has purchased property north of CR 96; thus, TVA owns the property on both sides of CR96. There will be a public hearing at the Jackson County Courthouse in Scottsboro, Al. on Tuesday Dec. 10, 2013 at 5PM, courtroom 1.

 

What will become of the water lines? Will the bridge support up to 15,000 heavy trucks continuously?  Is TVA going to destroy the landscape to bury coal ash? What exactly is TVA's plan in this major action which they have not fully disclosed?

 

MAP of TVA's Proposed Action- VACATE CR 96

 

 

TVA'S REQUEST TO THE JACKSON COUNTY COMMISSION

 

TVA CR96 HOUSE DEMOLITION-

NEPA NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT???

There is a significant impact when considering the full project; TVA appears to be treating citizens like mushrooms, keeping them in the dark and feeding them crap.

 

MEDIA COVERAGE of TVA's PROPOSED ACTIONS TO SHUTDOWN WIDOWS CREEK

TVA directors voted today to shut down the newest unit at Widows Creek Fossil Plant in northeast Alabama, all five units at the Colbert plant in Northwest Alabama and units 1 and 2 at the Paradise plant in western Kentucky. http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/nov/14/tva-shifts-more-gas-less-goal/

 

Earlier, TVA said that about 170 would be cut at the Stevenson plant but later clarified that the exact number of cuts had not yet been determined. TVA has not yet announced the closure dates for the Colbert plant but the unit set for retirement at Widows Creek is planned for late 2014. http://blog.al.com/breaking/2013/11/tva_to_cut_more_than_300_emplo.html

The retirement of Unit 8 is scheduled for late 2014. http://www.theclarion.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7150:widows-creeks-unit-8-added-to-closure-list&catid=42:clarion-rotation-stories&Itemid=142

TVA 2009 Environmental Assessment for Removal of Gypsum Products http://www.tva.gov/environment/reports/widows_creek/widows_creek_fea_.pdf

BURNING WOOD? Association of Tennessee Valley Governments: TVA is considering building natural gas-powered generators at its Allen Fossil Plant near Memphis. Colbert Fossil plant already has the ability to burn wood waste for powering some boilers, which could allow it to become a biomass-fueled plant. http://www.atvg.org/forms/news/dec10/NewWorkIdledPlants.pdf

WIDOWS CREEK STATS http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Widows_Creek_Fossil_Plant

WIDOWS CREEK & MESOTHELIOMA http://www.mesothelioma.com/asbestos-exposure/jobsites/power-plants/widows-creek-power-plant.htm

WIDOWS CREEK-The Smoke Stack Effect http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/smokestack/polluter/18453

WIDOWS CREEK TOXIC EMISSIONS-TVA: http://www.tva.com/environment/air/widcreek.htm

TVA Quarterly Meeting, November 14, 2013 at Oxford, Ms.

 

HEADLINES

 

COAL - At today’s Board of Directors’ meeting in Oxford, MS, TVA announced that it will be retiring 3,308 MWs of coal capacity from 3 plants. -  See more at: http://blog.cleanenergy.org/2013/11/14/big-coal-retirements-announced-at-tva-board-of-directors-meeting/#sthash.M5DUzR97.dpuf

 

The Tennessee Valley Authority's board has voted to close six coal-powered units in Alabama and replace two others in Kentucky with a natural gas plant.  http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20131115/business/711159750/

 

     FINANCES -  "The Tennessee Valley Authority ended fiscal 2013 with net income of $271 million on $11 billion in operating revenues despite a decline in sales, while record levels of low-cost hydroelectric generation helped offset higher fuel costs. TVA reported solid financial results in 2013 despite lower sales and revenues,” TVA President Bill Johnson said in the utility's annual report filed today." http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/nov/18/tva-sales-drop-income-rises-fiscal-2013/?breakingnews

 

 

BELLEFONTE - TVA President Bill Johnson told TVA directors Thursday a new assessment projects that finishing just one of the two reactors would cost $7.4 billion to $8.7 billion. The earlier estimate was $4.9 billion...The numbers and the recent decline in TVA power sales mean there's no need to finish Bellefonte anytime soon. Johnson said a proposal from former TVA Chairman Dennis Bottorff and Haney to help the utility finance the work doesn't add up and won't be done in time to qualify for needed federal tax credits..."We'd either have to borrow a lot more money or raise rates and either of those, we think, would make it hard to continue our basic mission," Johnson said.   http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/nov/15/bellefonte-costs-rise-again/

 

Zombie plant costs ratepayers, evidence of poor utility management.  http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/oct/27/bellefonte-at-a-glance/

 

TVA VIDEO AND LINKS

Video of listening session & meeting

 

Meeting News Release and Links To Fact Sheets

TVA Presentation

 

REPORT ON THE BELLEFONTE NUCLEAR PLANT 

TVA COAL ASH and RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

Electricity for all, at what costs in human suffering, costs to taxpayers and TVA ratepayers?

 

 

Arrowhead Landfill near Uniontown,  Al. (photo - southernstudies.org)

 

TVA COAL ASH and RACIAL DISCRIMINATION: ADEM (Alabama Department of Environmental Management) could loose all Federal funding, totaling near $54 million, due to discriminatory acts against minority peoples in the State of Alabama claims environmental groups and their attorneys.

The claim originated as a result of ADEM's refusal to meet with concerned citizens and environmental groups due to the dumping of TVA coal ash which has contaminated local water supplies in Uniontown, Alabama. Other states have refused to accept TVA's coal ash due to high contamination levels of dangerous substances such as Arsenic, Mercury, and other heavy metals.

 

This action is poised to cost Alabama taxpayers and TVA ratepayers an enormous amount of money. Discrimination, mismanagement and corruption does not bring positive results. Read more, including the full press release from concerned citizens and their attorneys at  http://scottsborostories.blogspot.com/2013/08/tva-coal-ash-and-racial-discrimination.html