Metro Pulse Q&A with documentary filmmaker Scott Colthorp

I watched the film and was able to keep from yelling out, "Liar!"

It was a slick presentation that left out most of the real controversies. It was notable by who was interviewed and who wasn't, heavy on TVA PR folks and the few folks who were well compensated. The graphics were often completely wrong, consistently understating the area damaged. The issue of economic damage to the Roane County economy was completely untouched and no mention was given of the hundreds of lawsuits yet unsettled over five years after the fact. Tom Kilgore was shown making his public statement that TVA would fix the environment, which they have in large part. Kilgore's statement that they will make the people of Roane County whole was not shown, possibly because they have completely escaped having to make economic restitution to anyone. TVA has managed to funnel a billion dollars to cleanup contractors.

Not one TVA official lost their job or even their bonus over this.

All in all, this was nice and fluffy and 45 minutes too long for what it accomplished. The TVA PR dept have to be patting themselves on the back.

As I was involved from December 29, 2008, in helping the victims and doing what little bit I could, I am sure I would have just walked out in disgust. I knew the activists who actually jumped in the river to get water samples, took air samples, and soil samples and rushed them to legitimate labs OUT OF STATE. The results were presented to the EPA, TDEC, and even TVA but were immediately dismissed and ridiculed as 'false'. WhitesCreek, you live there and you know the truth. The poisons are still in the Clinch and Emory. The radioactive sludge is still flowing...yes, it started in WWII but is still there. When TVA could not find another state that would take it (after they dumped thousands of truckloads in the poorest County in Alabama and made folks immediately sick there)...well, their final solution...bury it right there in Roane County. Built nice new ball fields and playgrounds and walking trails ON TOP of it. Looks great. The problem is that you cannot destroy radioactivity...and yes, Tom Kilgore is the devil in the details here. He refused to help even one person who was sickened, played games with the lives and property of families who had lived there for years. And yes, there are many 'unsettled' law suits, but I suspect TVA has run out of money. And there are 13 coal ash piles still around this deluded State, ready to spill and leak any time we have a good hard rain. Sounds like this is just a PR piece designed to make people forget.
And future stories we can look forward to: Duke Power has had two similar coal ash spills, in March and April and covered them up because NC's Governor used to work for that power producer. And here in Greene County, TDEC has approved a company that will produce nitrogen products and spill THAT chemical waste into the Nolechucky River. IT is all about power and money that destroys our environment, hurts and sickens our people with NO strict regulations to stop it.

I would like to see it again. I think a lot of what you are saying is implied in the film, Mary Wilson.... It may make people who are unaware of these things look into what is going on in their own back yards.

I'm becoming more skeptical of this film the longer I think about it. Did anyone who saw it see a single reference to the lawsuits?

Unfortunately we weren't able to make it to the Monday screening, but I look forward to seeing it on DVD or Netflix or something.

Anyway, I suspected it might be a little too "fair and balanced" based on these quotes from the Metro Pulse interview linked above:

"One aspect that made the project both easier and more complicated is that TVA is also a client of Colthorp’s — so, while he was able to gain access to the utility company, he had to overcome skepticism from residents in order to document a full picture of the crisis."

And:

How did the Blackout project come together? How long have you been working on it?

"I have been working with TVA’s film and video department for many years, helping the communications department share information with the public. I was asked by TVA’s former head of film and video, Cletus Mitchell, to document the clean-up process so that TVA could share it with the public. It was too much for his team to handle at the time. I conducted interviews with officials from both TVA and the EPA. A few months into the project I thought, why not make a documentary about the spill? TVA and the EPA agreed to let me have full access. From there, I dug into my savings account and started conducting interviews with local residents."

So he probably had unprecedented access, at least. I will have to see it to tell whether it is "fair" or "balanced." If documentaries work anything like local media, the journalism sometimes gets influenced by the access and the desire to keep it.