Tennessee Tech disavows study used in lobbying, financed by trucking company
The president of Tennessee Tech University has disavowed a study used to help justify the repeal of tighter federal emissions standards for a type of freight trucks, reports the Washington Post. He says that experts now question “the methodology and accuracy” of the industry-funded test.
TN Tech research used in lobbying ‘eviscerated’ by some professors
“Growing faculty outrage” prompted a Tennessee Technological University internal investigation into the validity of the school research that was financed by a Tennessee company, then used by U.S. Rep. Diane Black in supporting the company’s viewpoint on federal air pollution regulations, reports The Tennessean. Tech’s president suggests the internal review may “exonerate the innocent.”
Black campaign collects $225K from donors linked to company benefiting from “pollution loophole” she promoted
Donors linked to a Crossville, Tenn., truck dealership known as Fitzgerald Glider provided 12 percent of contributions to the gubernatorial campaign of U.S. Rep. Diane Black, reports the New York Times under the headline, “How $225,000 Can Help Secure a Pollution Loophole at Trump’s E.P.A.” Black is reported to have played a pivotal role in promoting a “loophole” in federal law that helps the company.
Harwell joins push to stop vehicle emissions testing in TN
House Speaker Beth Harwell, who is running for governor, Thursday threw her support behind legislation that would end vehicle emissions testing in the six counties where it’s now required, reports the Times Free Press.
The bill (HB1782) is sponsored by two Hamilton County legislators, Rep. Mike Carter, R-Ooltewah, and Sen. Bo Watson, R-Hixson. Besides Hamilton and Davidson County, which Harwell represents, the bill would also apply to Rutherford, Sumner, Williamson and Wilson counties.
Megasite waste water dumping site relocated after vocal local opposition
After vocal opposition from residents in and around the Tipton County community of Randolph, located on the banks of the Mississippi River, state officials are withdrawing their current plans for the Memphis Regional Megasite’s 35-mile long wastewater pipeline, reports the Memphis Daily News.
‘Complete rebuild’ of Fall Creek Falls State Park lodging approved
The Haslam administration has received approval from the State Building Commission for its plans to rebuild the guest lodging at Fall Creek Falls State Park, reports the Time Free Press.
The plan is to tear down two existing facilities and build a single inn with about 85 rooms along with a new restaurant and conference center at the 26,000-acre park, long considered the “crown jewel” of Tennessee’s state parks system, on the Upper Cumberland Plateau. The work is expected to take 1 1/2 to two years.
Cumberland County, TDEC have a dam dispute
The Cumberland County Commission is refusing to pay a bill from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation for inspection of a small dam, reports The Crossville Chronicle. The initial 2016 fee for inspection of Breckenridge Dam was $500, but that’s grown to $3,536.29 with penalties and interest.
TDEC hides data on low-level radioactive waste from public
Excerpt from a Tennessean report:
Ten years ago, when Murfreesboro residents learned the state had approved the dumping of low-level radioactive waste at a local landfill, a fierce community backlash swiftly put an end to the practice.
Today, Tennessee citizens have no way to find out how much low-level radioactive waste is going into other landfills.
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, or TDEC, has wiped that data from its website and said it is confidential.
Committee approves designation of 20,000 acres of Cherokee National Forest as wilderness
Press release from Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) today made the following statements after the Senate’s Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee advanced legislation they introduced earlier this year to preserve Tennessee’s heritage for future generations.
Affidavits say records on Kingston coal ash cleanup were intentionally destroyed
Three supervisors – two construction foremen and a TVA-paid overseer – say in affidavits filed in U.S. District Court they saw separate instances in which Tom Bock, the man tasked with protecting workers at the nation’s largest coal ash spill, intentionally destroyed or skewed air monitoring results and knowingly endangered workers, reports the News Sentinel.
Bock served as safety manager for Jacobs Engineering, an international government contractor.
The firm was tapped by TVA and approved by the EPA and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation to manage the clean-up of the massive coal ash spill at the TVA Kingston Fossil Fuel Power Plant in the Swan Pond community of Roane County in December 2008.
