John Sevier Fossil Plant has 15 groundwater monitoring wells, 9 of which have been polluted above federal advisory levels based on samples collected between April 07, 2010 and May 24, 2016. Groundwater at this site contains unsafe levels of manganese, sulfate, boron, strontium, cadmium, molybdenum, arsenic and cobalt.
Site descriptionThe coal units at the John Sevier Fossil Plant have been retired, but large quantities of coal ash remain on the site. TVA originally disposed of the ash from John Sevier in a series of ponds located along the Holston River, in the area now covered by the dry fly ash disposal area and a sediment pond. In 1979, the TVA started using "Area 2" as a bottom ash pond and started disposing of dry fly ash on top of the fly ash and bottom ash in the old ash ponds. Another 22-acre area was used for wet and dry ash disposal in the 1980s and 90s and that ash remains in place.
This site is among the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's list of potential damage cases. Read EIP's report TVA's Toxic Legacy and visit SoutheastCoalAsh.org for more information about John Sevier Fossil Plant.
For more information about coal ash in Tennessee, see Earthjustice's fact sheet, Tennessee and Coal Ash Disposal in Ponds and Landfill.