Here is Frank Carlson's Daily Pulse blog post about today's press conference with Tom Kilgore at TVA:

(link...)

Ash Spill Prompts TVA to Erect Data Dams
"We have to prevent the public from being inundated with information," says CEO

From APB reports. KNOXVILLE - The Kingston coal fly ash spill weighed heavily in the decision to raise the elevation of its public relations barriers to meet the threat of a catastrophic, and highly likely, flood of requests for information, TVA President and CEO Kilmore Trout acknowledged Friday.

The likelihood of a disaster actually happening that would cause the magnitude of open-record requests that TVA projected in a computer model is remote. But TVA is determined to be prepared to shut down all information leaks in the event of a so-called "perfect storm" public-relations event, Trout told reporters during a news conference at TVA headquarters in Knoxville.

Prior to Dec. 22, 2008, the possibility seemed remote that TVA would be forced to work overtime to deflect unpleasant questions and massage messages about why a holding pond at the Kingston Fossil Plant collapsed and released 5.4 million cubic yards of coal fly ash into the Emory River and across 300 acres of Roane County landscape...

Scott Barker has a lengthy piece on the Kingston disaster and there are several related stories as well.

More ash spill stories

The Kingston coal fly ash spill weighed heavily in the decision to raise the elevation of four TVA dams in order to meet the threat of a catastrophic although highly unlikely flood, TVA President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Kilgore said today.

Well, that part is true. They are being overly cautious because of ash spill and covering their backsides.

If the updated modeling really shows overtopping (and they are not doing anything wacky with the pool levels), I'm all for making the modifications. But, building the temporary structures seems to be a waste. Plenty of governing agencies allow for a reduced design storm, like a 1/2 PMF, for short-term conditions.   The risk would certainly be acceptable for a couple of years to build a permanent solution.

Feds May Mandate More Ash Spills to Stimulate Economy
"Look at the booming business in Roane County," says federal official

From APB reports. KNOXVILLE - With a new year dawning and the federal government still seeking ways to spend its way to prosperity, the U.S. Economic Prodding Agency will announce the first-ever federal standards for the storage of coal ash that may include mandated ash spills to provide economic opportunities for cleanup companies.

Although the federal government declined to pitch in funds for the Kingston coal-ash cleanup that occurred last year, Mazumah Hanover-Fyste, director of the federal program, Bailin' Our Way, Theoretically Anyway, Out of Unemployment & Recession, Mindful Always of Serious Taxation & Electoral Realities & Setbacks (BOWTAOURMASTERS), said if enough ash spills occurred for ash-spill cleanup to become an industry, it might then be deemed worthy of a bailout.

"What you have to understand is that we only give bailouts to entities too big to fail that failed," explained Hanover-Fyste. "If coal-ash cleanups grow to that standard, we'd gladly look into mortgaging another generation to pay for those costs today. That's why we think mandating coal-ash spills could be just the new opportunity required to jumpstart this economy."

As evidence for the positive economic impact coal-ash cleanups could provide, Hanover-Fyste pointed to Roane County Executive Mike Farmer's statement that the county had a "mini-economic boom" right after the Kingston spill, as local contractors got involved with TVA in the cleanup.

"Mini-economic boom,' that's the operative term," said Hanover-Fyste. "If a coal-ash spill could provide a mini-economic boost to this county, think what kind of boost a thousand coal-ash spills across the country could give to the national economy."

Farmer insisted his statement should not be the basis for developing a federal bailout program based on mandating more coal-ash spills...