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February 19, 2002 - Inside this Issue!
1. WORKSHOP - How to use the Clean Water Act
to Protect and Clean up Your Local Waterways
2. PUBLIC MEETINGS - TVA to Conduct Reservoir Operations Study
3. CONFERENCE: Sustainable Development Workshop March 28 -
29, 2002.
4. NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING - Cumberland Coal Company Expansion
5. NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING - NPDES Lynnwood Utilities Sewage Treatment
Plant
6. TDEC PRESS RELEASE - Summertown Utility District requests suspension
of permit application
7. NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT - TDEC suspends all future interbasin transfer
permits
8. NEWS - Drinking water may have caused miscarriages
9. RIVER CLEANUP - Join in the Tellico River Cleanup!
10.NEWS - Bush Administration Proposes Sweeping Cuts to Environmental
Enforcement, Water Quality Monitoring, and Important Water Quality Programs
11. REPORT - Aquatic Ecosystems and Global Climate Change:
12. REPORT - EPA Releases Report to Congress on Controlling Combined Sewer
Overflows
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1. WORKSHOP - How to use the Clean Water Act to Protect and
Clean up Your Local Waterways
The Clean Water Network, Alabama Rivers Alliance, and Tennessee Clean
Water Network, present: Restoring the Waters of Alabama and Tennessee
A workshop on how to use the Clean Water Act to protect and clean up your
local waterways: the Total Maximum Daily Load Clean-up Program When:
Friday, March 8, 9:00 - 3:30 p.m. (CST)
Where: Willow Room, Joe Wheeler State Park near Rogersville, AL
(northwest of Huntsville)
Cost: The charge for this event will
be $10.00 which includes lunch and materials.
Who: This workshop is for interested citizens and grassroots watershed
group participants. We will focus on the details of how to read
and comment on a TMDL and will dedicate time to strategizing on how citizens
can best use this program to clean up their state waters. To obtain
more information go
to the TCWN website at www.tcwn.org
or call Danielle Droitsch with Tennessee Clean Water Network at 865-522-7007.
2. PUBLIC MEETINGS - TVA to Conduct Reservoir Operations Study
TVA has begun a comprehensive two-year study of its reservoir operations
to examine the policies that guide flood control, navigation, water quality,
and other aspects of river management. The purpose of the study is to
determine if changes in TVA's reservoir system operating policies would
produce greater overall public value. TVA will conduct the study
in accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy
Act. The process and the results will be documented in an environmental
impact statement. Technical analyses, including assessments of natural
resource conditions, flood risk, water quality, and economic impacts,
will also be conducted as part of the study.
Public input is a key component of this effort. TVA will hold public meetings
in spring 2002 to help identify issues to address and alternatives to
consider in the study. Additional meetings will be held
later in the process to gather public comments on the draft environmental
impact statement.
To submit comments or get additional information, members of the public
are invited to:
Continue checking this Web site for information
Call toll-free 888-882-7675
Send a fax to TVA at 865-632-3146
Write to ROS Project Manager David Nye, TVA, c/o
WT 11A, 400 West Summit Hill Dr., Knoxville, TN 37902.
Send an e-mail to [email protected]
Thursday, March 21: Walker County, GA; Tupelo, MS
Saturday, March 23: Murphy, NC; Guntersville, AL
Tuesday, April 2: Decatur, AL; Starkville, MS
Thursday, April 4: Paris, TN; Nashville, TN; Memphis, TN
Saturday, April 6: Morristown, TN; Muscle Shoals, AL
Tuesday, April 9: Knox County/Loudon County Area, TN; Chattanooga, TN
Thursday, April 11: Blountville, TN; Gilbertsville, KY
Saturday, April 13: Norris, TN; Savannah, TN
Tuesday, April 16: Blairsville, GA; Bowling Green, KY
Thursday, April 18: Bryson City, NC; Tullahoma, TN
For more information about the study, or to provide your comments at any
time, please call TVA toll-free at 888-882-7675 or log onto www.tva.com.
Meeting times and locations will be available through the toll-free number
and website after March 1 and will be advertised in your local
newspapers closer to the meeting dates.
3. CONFERENCE: Sustainable Development Workshop March 28 -
29, 2002
Cumberland River Compact invites you to a unique workshop designed to
give you the tools for successful planning of sustainable development
and show how the "bottom line of GREEN is BLACK."
Conservation and Common Sense Development II "A Workshop for Building
Better Communities" at the Downtown Sheraton, Nashville, Tennessee
For registration information: http://www.cumberlandrivercompact.org/workshopintro.htm
4. NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING - Cumberland Coal Company Expansion
Public Hearing M2002-01
NOTICE IS HEREBY given that in response to public requests, the Division
of Water Pollution Control, Mining Section, will hold the following public
hearing, pursuant to Rule 1200-4-1-.05(3)(g) of the Tennessee Department
of Environment and Conservation. The hearing will be conducted at:
7:00 p.m., EST, March 26, 2002 - Cumberland County Courthouse 2 North
Main Street, Crossville, Tennessee 38555
At the hearing, the Division will receive public comments concerning the
issuance of a National Discharge Pollutant Elimination System (NPDES)
permit to the following applicant: Cumberland Coal Company, LLC,
Turner Mine 2 NPDES Permit TN0072842
This new underground coal mine and coal preparation plant, located at
latitude 35°59'30", longitude 84°45'00", will discharge treated
wastewater and storm water into Millstone Branch, Rogers Creek and Island
Creek in Cumberland County. The Division advertised its tentative decision
to issue this permit in Public Notice M2002-02, dated January 30, 2002.
Interested persons may obtain additional information, a copy of the draft
permit, and inspect and copy forms at the Division's office located at
the above letterhead address. Please phone (865) 594-5538 or (888) 891-8332
to schedule an appointment for the review. A copy of the permit application,
and draft permit will be available for review at the hearing.
5. NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING -Lynnwood Utilities Sewage Treatment
Plant
FOR INFORMATION CALL: Saya A. Qualls at (615) 532-0625
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, the Division of Water Pollution Control will hold
a public hearing, pursuant to Rule 1200-4-1-.05 at:
Grassland Middle School, Commons Area
2390 Hillsboro Road
Franklin, TN 37069
Date: March 19, 2002
Time: 7:00 p.m. CST
Public comments will be received concerning the proposed reissuance/modification
of the NPDES Permit for the Lynnwood Utilities STP, Franklin, Williamson
County, Tennessee. The NPDES permit for the Lynnwood Utilities STP
is being issuanced to allow the plant to discharge 0.4 MGD of treated
domestic wastewater to the Harpeth River at mile 77.9.
Permit Information, the existing NPDES permit No. TN0029718 was issued
on May 14, 1999, and expired on July 31, 2001. It administratively continued
upon expiration. Interested persons may obtain additional information,
a copy of the draft permit, the fact sheet, and inspect and copy forms
and related documents at the Division's Central Office at the address
listed at the top of this page or at the Nashville Environmental Assistance
Center, 711 R. S. Gass Blvd., Nashville, TN 37216.
6. TDEC PRESS RELEASE - Summertown Utility District requests suspension
of permit application
The Board of Commissioners for the Summertown Utility District has asked
the state to temporarily suspend a determination on its application for
a permit to withdraw up to one million gallons per day from the Buffalo
River. In a letter dated December 18, 2001, the district says they need
to use Buffalo River water in the future, but for now they wish to pursue
"coordinated and cooperative regional watershed efforts." The
letter proposes certain steps to be taken to enhance protection of the
river and promote regional planning. Potential inclusion of the Buffalo
in the state scenic river system is specifically mentioned.
An August 7, 2001 public hearing attracted more than 300 people. The majority
of attendees were downstream residents expressing their strong desire
to protect the Buffalo River. Following the public forum, letters from
citizens and conservation groups addressed similar concerns.
"We hope the enthusiasm for the Buffalo River continues," says
Paul E. Davis, Director of TDEC's Division of Water Pollution Control.
"TDEC helped facilitate this decision and we fully agree with the
district on the importance of regional planning."
TDEC will honor Summertown Utility District's request and suspend its
determination on the permit.
7. NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT - TDEC suspends all future inter-basin
transfer permits
On January 25, 2002, Justin Wilson, Deputy to the Governor for Policy,
announced that all future interbasin permits will be suspended until further
study. Specifically, Mr. Wilson asked TDEC to: "please deny
any new inter-basin transfer .permit applications received after the date
of this letter until you are confident that all reasonably foreseeable
needs for water under all climatic conditions will be met.
Mr. Wilson says in his letter: "Therefore, please deny any new inter-basin
transfer permit applications received after the date of this letter until
you are confident that all reasonably foreseeable needs for
water under all climatic conditions will be met. Specifically in regard
to making this determination for the Lower Tennessee-Hiwassee River basin,
you should use the TVA study, unless an applicant furnishes the same quality
of information."
8. NEWS - Drinking water may have
caused miscarriages
Twenty-five women who suffered miscarriages are suing the city of Chesapeake,
Virginia over chemicals in the public drinking water supply. The women
suspect that contaminated water caused their miscarriages.
As reports the Washington Post (2-10-02), "The women are alleging
that the city did not adequately warn them about potentially harmful
levels of toxins in their water, sometimes nearly 10 times higher than
the danger level identified in the largest public health study to date."
According to the Post, a growing number of studies are linking birth defects
and miscarriages "to chemicals that are produced when chlorine, used
to purify drinking water, mixes with organic matter, such as fertilizer
in surface water." Officials from the chemical and water industry
say the evidence is inconclusive.
The Environmental Protection Agency has called the evidence of chlorination
byproducts in drinking water "an important health concern."
Many residents are unaware that levels of chlorination byproducts often
rise above EPA limits.
Because there has never been a comprehensive study of the city's miscarriage
or birth defect rates, "it is impossible to draw a comparison between
the period when the byproducts were spiking and when
they were not," reports the Post.
Annette Spaven told the Post, "I just hope that...people will pay
attention to what's going on in their cities. No one should have to go
through what we have."
"You just take for granted...that you never have to second-guess
what's in your water," she said.
9. RIVER CLEANUP - Join in the Tellico River Cleanup!
The 3rd Annual Tellico River Cleanup Day is Saturday, March 9, 2002.
-Rain or Shine
-Registration begins 9:00 am at the Tellico Ranger Station (near Tellico
Plain, TN) and at the Stateline Campground
-Bags and bagged trash pick-up will be provided
-Bright colored clothing is recommended
-Bringing gloves is recommended
The current list of groups participating includes USDA Forest Service,
TVA, Trout Unlimited, Southern Four Wheel Drive Association, Boy Scouts
of America, Chattanooga Trout Association.
The area cleaned is along the Tellico and North River roads and river
banks. Last year there were about 65 participants. With more
participants, more area gets cleaned. We need as many groups as
possible participating (recreation, environmental, school, church, scouts,
etc.).
For more details contact:
Mary Jane Burnette - Tellico Ranger District, 423-253-2520
Steve Fry - Trout Unlimited, 423-855-5897
10. NEWS - Bush Administration Proposes Sweeping Cuts to Environmental
Enforcement, Water Quality Monitoring, and Important Water Quality Programs
Last Monday the Bush Administration proposed a budget for Fiscal Year
(FY) 2003 that would seriously cripple further progress towards meeting
the goals of the Clean Water Act. Though many of the proposed cuts
are not as drastic as the cuts proposed by Bush last year, the clean water
budget proposed by Bush would decrease our understanding of water quality
problems, seriously undermine environmental enforcement efforts, and hamper
progress being made and future success of critical clean water programs.
Call the Network for more information on the budget at 202-289-2421. To
see EPA's budget, go to http://www.epa.gov/ocfo/budget/budget.htm.
11. REPORT - Aquatic Ecosystems and Global Climate Change:
A new report has been released, "Potential Impacts on Inland Freshwater
and Coastal Wetland Ecosystems in the United States" by Pew Charitable
Trusts. This new environmental impact series report released January 29,
2002 draws on a variety of sources to summarize researchers' current
understanding of the potential impacts of climate change on U.S. aquatic
ecosystems.
View the press release and full report: http://www.pewclimate.org/projects/aquatic.cfm
12. REPORT - EPA Releases Report to Congress on Controlling Combined
Sewer Overflows
EPA released to Congress on January 29, 2002 a report on the Implementation
and Enforcement of its 1994 Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Control Policy.
This report, required in the 2000 Wet Weather Quality Act, documents progress
made by EPA, States and municipalities in implementing and enforcing the
CSO policy. The report says that while EPA States and municipalities have
made significant progress under the policy in controlling CSOs, there
are still challenges that must be
overcome. These challenges include finding the resources to implement
the CSO control programs necessary to achieve appropriate environmental
objectives, integrating the review of water quality standards with the
communities development of their CSO control plans, and thedevelopment
and implementation of better information management systems for assessing
the public health and environmental improvements resulting from these
long-term CSO control plans. For more information, visit http://www.epa.gov/npdes
and follow the link for ?Combined Sewer Overflows?. The report will be
available for download on this site beginning Friday, February 1, 2002.
Within several weeks, copies of the Report will be available as both hard
copy and CD-ROM.
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Tennessee Clean Water Network E-News
This newsletter is intended to provide a quick look at current clean
water issues in Tennessee, in addition to resources available to the
concerned citizen.
Visit our website (www.tcwn.org) to
find more detailed information.
Comments and submissions for the newsletter are welcome. Send to
[email protected]
or to [email protected]
or call us at
865/522-7007. Thanks for your participation!
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