Lots of people want lots of things from the upcoming economic stimulus package. A new idea came today from Tennessee Representative Zach Wamp, who suggests that possibly the package could include some aid to clean up localities damaged by the Tennessee Valley Authority's massive coal ash spill.
TVA itself is talking about insurance, the extent of which is unclear at the moment, and aggrieved parties are filing lawsuits for damages. But according to Wamp, who plans to run for governor of his state, the spill at TVA's Kingston coal-burning plant is much like Hurricane Katrina, a weather event, and thus federal aid should be made available to the state and county.
More than 30 days of rain in the region may have contributed to the spill, he observed. "I think it's time for the federal government to look at this as more of a disaster like Katrina, as opposed to malfeasance by anyone or neglect by anyone," he told our reporter Cathy Cash after a meeting he and others had today in Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander's office.
Wamp said the pending multi-billion-dollar economic stimulus package may be a vehicle for aid. "We ought to make the case right now that our state could use some relief right here," said Wamp. "This could be an emergency spending item. Just like other huge disasters, because that's what this is."
The stimulus package seems like a really long shot, but whether federal aid will come at all could be a very real question. Some TVA customer groups are grousing about the cost of cleaning up the spill - the federal utility is still calculating it - and the fact that TVA ratepayers will have to pay for it in higher rates since the utility doesn't have shareholders.
Moreover, at the meeting in Alexander's office, members of the Tennessee delegation gave TVA President Tom Kilgore a bit of a pounding. "Greenpeace could not have staged a bigger anti-coal demonstration than what you unintentionally put on," Representative Jim Cooper told him.
Senator Bob Corker said, "there's a new wind blowing up here in Washington. There is no question what has happened here, at a macro level, is going to affect coal. I think this is just the beginning. This is an event that will significantly affect energy production in the country."
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