Report faults TVA response to spill

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., June 17 (UPI) -- Tennessee Valley Authority employees were untrained in dealing with an emergency like a recent ash spill, an official report says.

The critique was done by the agency's inspector general, The Nashville Tennessean reported. The TVA disputed that "inaccurate and inconsistent information" was provided immediately after the December spill, but acknowledged many of the problems.

The failure of a containment pond at the Kingston, Tenn., power plant spilled 1 billion gallons of coal ash slurry, threatening tributaries of the Tennessee River, covering 300 acres of land and destroying several houses.

"I am glad the inspector general has validated what many of us felt, which was that TVA was woefully unprepared for a disaster of this magnitude," said Stephen Smith, head of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. "They went into a very defensive posture, circled the wagons, gave misleading information and downplayed the significance of what happened."