Scott Barker files this report on an incendiary TVA Inspector General report regarding the Kingston coal ash disaster.

Excerpts from the IG Report:

• TVA could have possibly prevented the Kingston Spill if it had taken recommended corrective actions. TVA was aware of "red flags" that were raised over a long period of time signaling the need for safety modifications to TVA ash ponds. These "red flags" were raised both by TVA employees and by consultants hired by TVA.

• Despite internal knowledge of risks associated with ash ponds, TVA's formal Enterprise Risk Management process, which began in 1999, had not identified ash management as a risk.

• Attitudes and conditions at TVA's fossil fuel plant that emanate from a legacy culture impacted the way TVA handled coal ash. Ash was relegated to the status of garbage at a landfill rather than treating it as a potential hazard to the public and the environment.

• Clearly, a reasonable expectation was created for Congress and TVA's other stakeholders that since January of 2009, TVA has been working diligently to explain why the Kingston ash spill occurred. It was not foreseeable that, in fact, TVA would not review what management practices may have contributed to the failure, but would instead tightly circumscribe the scope of review to intentionally avoid revealing any evidence that would suggest culpability on the part of TVA. In fact, it appears that TVA management made a conscious decision to present to the public only facts that supported an absence of liability for TVA for the Kingston Spill.

The IG report says the root cause investigation was turned over the Office of General Council (lawyers) and that TVA chose to "circle the wagons, carefully craft press releases to project TVA in the most favorable light, and to tightly control any reports done by TVA of the failure to minimize legal liability."

SEE ALSO: RoaneViews: I strongly advise TVA to accept the formation of an outside team of mediators to determine the financial damages to everyone who feels harmed and get out the checkbook.

UPDATE: From the TVA Inspector General's prepared remarks to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure:

Finally, in addition to the recommendations in our report, the Office of the Inspector General recommends that Congress hold regular oversight hearings to determine whether:

1. TVA’s coal ash facilities have either been closed properly or modified to an appropriate safety level;

2. TVA’s culture has been changed to become more transparent and accountable; and

3. TVA has fulfilled its responsibilities to the citizens of Roane County to clean up their community and to make them whole.

UPDATE: Roane County reacts to TVA IG report