Tennessee Riverkeeper is seeking to reduce sewage pollution in the Cumberland … Sources of pathogens in the PRIDE region are mainly related to sewage. The following information is subject to change and was copied from TDEC’s site. Finely crafted by Proof Branding. What if a lot of people were doing the right things? | NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION RESOURCES. Over 50 percent of the CWD’s 3.36 mgd supply is obtained from the four municipal wells. MANAGEMENT PLAN . While agricultural pollution still contributes the highest percentage of nitrogen and phosphorus to the Susquehanna and to the Chesapeake Bay TVA’s recently adopted long-term energy plan said investments in more renewable power, like solar energy, should lead to the replacement of dirty coal plants. The Cumberland River Compact and its partners, Metro Water Services and the Nature Conservancy, Tennessee Chapter are working in Sugartree Creek to establish a model for urban stream mediation. Most often the root causes that impact the health of a stream are integrally related to how we develop, and farmland. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Gallatin Steam Plant, Larry McCormack, The Tennessean, lmccormack@tennessean.com. This mill was powered by the waters of the Blackstone River. Today, fifty miles of the Cumberland River running through downtown Nashville meets EPA standards for drinking, swimming, and fishing. Responsible land use is key to protecting and restoring clean water. This species was once widely distributed, historically occurring in fAlabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Virginia, and Tennessee. Clear Fork of the Cumberland River Watershed (05130101) Chapter 6 10/04/2007. WATERSHED WATER QUALITY . The study area encompassed intensive dairy and beef farming, abundant wildlife populations, homes with on-site septic systems, and four stream segments listed as impaired due to high-fecal coliform concentrations. Pollution Sources. In 2016, the Environmental Integrity Project found that Cumberland was the worst mercury polluter and second worst selenium polluter among coal plants nationwide, based on information TVA provided to EPA for its Toxics Release Inventory. Sadly, this decision will have an outsized and lasting effect on the health and safety of all Tennesseans. potential pollution sources are available for review at ... Cumberland, Lincoln, and Pawtucket Source Water Assessment ... wells, located near the Blackstone River and Abbott Run Brook. Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. The human body is 60% water. Have a topic or question you want to know more about? Vic Scoggin, riverboat pilot and Navy veteran, and his wife, Julee Jones, are appalled at the pollution of the Cumberland River. During that time, the river was not swimmable or fishable, and you did not see the recreation on the river that you do today. Nesting clusters have been spared from forestry activity to preserve old-growth, large diameter trees, and contr… One of the largest waterfalls in the eastern United States, Cumberland Falls, 68 feet (21 m) high, is on this river. Our staff and board believe in the work we do because we can see the difference in streams that are allowed to function the way nature intended, and that many of the problems streams face are man-made, and therefore we have the power to rectify them. Inspired by Vic Scoggins in 1997 a group of Nashvillians, now known as the founders of the Cumberland River Compact, came together around a common issue: the state of the Cumberland River. I saw over 200 floating tires, I didn’t count all the cars, there were so many cars on the river banks.”. And it’s our job to take care of it. Despite the magnitude of its toxic pollution, TVA got what it asked for from the EPA in this most recent rollback. Management efforts for this species are often dedicated to increasing nesting sites. We need TVA to step up and create a time-bound coal transition plan for its remaining coal plants in Tennessee. Late last August, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rollback of standards adopted in 2015 that would keep some of the nation’s biggest industrial polluters -- coal-burning power plants – from dumping harmful toxic pollution into the nation’s waterways. Check out the projects we’ve accomplished with our partners. We use the latest stream quality data from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, packaged into a neat little tool developed by the Compact and the Nature Conservancy in Tennessee called iCreek, to identify impaired waters. The Cumberland River provides Nashville residents with the water entering their homes and places of business. Once common in the Southeast's vast expanses of coastal mature pine forests, this woodpecker is now an endangered species with a habitat that has disappeared from 97 percent of its range. Braving the waters littered with trash and raw sewage, Scoggins was determined to draw attention to the state of the river. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation’s (TDEC) Division of Water Pollution Control issues advisories for the consumption of fish from certain Tennessee waters. ... Sources of water pollution without a single point of origin. Industrial and agriculture influences lead to opportunities for pollutants to enter the watershed. Over the last 20 years, the Cumberland River has grown to be a treasure of the region once again, thanks to the hard work of many stakeholders including the Cumberland River Compact, other non-governmental organizations, farmers, outdoor recreationists, concerned city dwellers, conscientious corporations and dedicated government employees. | Even worse, at the Cumberland coal plant, TVA asked EPA to excuse it altogether from some of the most crucial protections in the law. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the complexity and severity of environmental issues today. Following the Kingston coal ash disaster, TVA committed to dry processing its coal ash waste. The exemption means that Cumberland will be allowed to dump over 20 times more toxic mercury than other coal plants can, and there will be no limitations on TVA discharging selenium into our local waterways. But instead of complying with the law, TVA asked instead for the maximum amount of time before cutting its contaminated wastewater discharges. Many other mills appeared along the Blackstone River over time, giving the river the nickname "America's hardest working river." “Sewage is one of the biggest pollution threats to the Cumberland River. For anyone that lives in the 18,000 square mile reaches of the Cumberland River Basin, you ARE the Cumberland River. But indeed, there is much work to be done. Even EPA’s weakened limits were too much for TVA’s liking, and the federal utility lobbied for and ultimately got a pass from requirements to install the best modern technologies to control its toxic pollution at Cumberland. Although TVA is still working toward that goal, large quantities of toxic pollutants are still getting into our waterways. The environmental groups don't think the state required sufficient changes from TVA at the plant to safeguard against contamination of the Cumberland River. Babies are born at about 75% water. The industrialization also lead to the river being identified by the end of the 20th century as the primary source of Narragansett Bay pollution. Save the Cumberland River Mile Marker Expedition '96 May 1, 1996 - July 4, 1996. Our blog will dive into the issues, history, at-home tips, trips you can take in the basin, innovative approaches to water quality issues, arts, and more in the Cumberland River Basin. [3] From campaigns to plant more trees, to adopting a stream, to sustainable agriculture, we work tirelessly to provide resources for change. Due to specific habitat preferences, ashy darters have found it difficult to maintain existing populations, considering the aforementioned sources of nonpoint pollution and river impoundments. All programs of the Cumberland River Compact work to address the root causes of water pollution. Sources of fecal pollution in the Blackwater River in south-central Virginia were identified. The Costly, Complicated Process of Cleaning Up a Toxic River In eastern Washington, a push to clean PCBs from the Spokane River faces a dirty legacy and global pollution problem. Chuck Sutherland Photography “The most ironic thing was all the refrigerators floating in the River. Each year, the Tennessee Valley Authority generates thousands of pounds of wastewater pollution at its coal plants. There is small potential for pollution due to the rural nature of the community and the high volume of water flow in the Cumberland River. From skyscrapers to soybeans, there are many things we can do to reduce our impact on the land. The data was from on-site monitoring wells and not from direct sources of drinking water, he said. TN 37143-0247 615 353-7805 email: savethecumberland Save the Cumberland Web Page. In an average year, more than 60 percent of the phosphorus and 85 percent of the nitrogen found in the Susquehanna can be traced to non-point sources of pollution, such as agricultural and urban runoff. Some tributaries in the Cumberland River basin and the Four Rivers region are contaminated by agriculture (204 miles of streams), urban runoff (283 miles), resource extraction (1,075 miles), municipal wastewater discharges (358 miles), and waste disposal on the land (192 miles). With data about what a waterway is impaired for, we can work to implement our programs based on the common sources of those impairments. Box 247 Pegram. 4.1.2 Data Sources An inventory of potential point sources of contaminants within the Potomac basin has been compiled from existing databases and entered into a master database. An … This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. Historically, TVA used leaking, unlined pits to manage the flows of this polluted water, and was allowed to dump its waste into nearby lakes and rivers, just upstream from drinking water sources, through weak Clean Water Act permits. P. O. The Compact focuses on building strong partnerships with state, federal, and local agencies to take proactive and innovative approaches to today’s water quality issues. Nashville aggressively treats water leaving its facilities before sending it on to the public. Throughout the Cumberland River Basin, we partner with organizations and other entities looking to positively impact our water quality. Sources of these data include Federal and State agencies and consist of discharge and release inventories, hazardous waste sites, landfills, underground storage Data from the USGS RIM station determine how much pollution is observed in the river entering Washington, D.C., while the EPA model assesses trends in all pollution sources across the entire watershed. TVA’s Cumberland plant sits on the Cumberland River southwest of Clarksville, just upstream from Cross Creeks National Wildlife Refuge and other places Tennesseans like to hunt and fish. Mercury is a well-known poison to wildlife and people. TVA’s persistence in seeking less stringent pollution limits for its Tennessee coal plants, especially Cumberland, is surely as shameful as the EPA granting TVA the exemption in this latest rollback. We’ve waited long enough. JoAnn McIntosh is a volunteer leader with the Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club, Clarksville-Montgomery County. … The Cumberland River is a major waterway of the Southern United States.The 688-mile-long (1,107 km) river drains almost 18,000 square miles (47,000 km 2) of southern Kentucky and north-central Tennessee.The river flows generally west from a source in the Appalachian Mountains to its confluence with the Ohio River near Paducah, Kentucky, and the mouth of the Tennessee River. While aging infrastructure and intense rain events cause occasional concerns, this is a great victory from 20 years ago. Clear Fork near Clairfield, Hickory Creek, Davis Creek, and Elk Fork Creek are impacted by bacterial contamination coming from storm water runoff and septic drainfield systems. Like the veins that run through our bodies, delivering oxygen and nutrients, rivers and streams act as the blood vessels of the land, constantly cycling, moving, and supplying people and critters alike with the bounty of clean water. Some measures that may be necessary to control pathogens are: The protection zones lie mostly within forested and agricultural land. The Cumberlandian combshell originally was described from the Cumberland River in Tennessee. All Tennesseans have a right to clean and safe water free from coal plant water pollution. Maps of sources and a table of sources by county ... of fecal coliform bacteria in both the North Fork of the Kentucky River and the Upper Cumberland River Basin. TVA can fulfill its statutory mandate of providing low-cost, reliable electricity to its customers, while supporting local workers and communities and reducing water pollution without special handouts from the EPA. The … Although TVA claims to have reduced its pollution in recent years, even EPA acknowledges that Cumberland is responsible for roughly one-sixth of all toxic wastewater pollution from coal plant flues in the country. Regrettably, shallow pools of sand and gravel substrate are increasingly scarce, causing remaining populations to be isolated and scattered. Board Portal Tennessee issued new Clean Water Act permits that demanded considerable reductions in the toxic discharges in compliance with the new federal limits. To prove just how bad the state of the Cumberland River had become, Vic Scoggins swam the 687-mile entirety of the Cumberland River from Harlan Kentucky, to its confluence with the Ohio River. The good news is that there are some really basic things that everyone can do to have a big impact over time (to come in a future post). TVA was the only utility in the U.S. to receive this special exemption. EVERYTHING we do on the land impacts the waters around it. 16. CUMBERLAND RIVER COMPACT River Talks Starting in April 2014, the Cumberland River Compact began hosting River Talks: An Educational Series at theCumberland River Center.River Talks encompasses five different lecture and event series spanning a wide range of topics, from history to environmental policy and more. Our partnerships allow us to get more work on the ground, with more voices involved. TVA’s Cumberland plant sits on the Cumberland River southwest of Clarksville, just upstream from Cross Creeks National Wildlife Refuge and other places Tennesseans like … Tennessee law declares that our rivers and streams belong to us, the people of Tennessee, and that we have a right to enjoy unpolluted waters. Cumberland County Water District purchases water from Burkesville and Albany. “Sewage is one of the biggest pollution threats to the Cumberland River and Clarksville is one of the worst sources of that pollution” said David Whiteside, founder of the group. In 2012 and 2013, the Cumberland County Health Department, in partnership with Rutgers Cooperative Extension and the Cohansey Area Watershed Association, initiated an expanded sampling program in the watershed in 2012 and 2013 to determine the sources and extent of fecal contamination. The Cumberland River is a wild river above the headwaters of Lake Cumberland. If you have any concerns about the quality of your drinking water, don’t hesitate to test it as to better understand if there’s a problem. ... and suspended sediments can also interfere with feeding. 2 Victory Ave Suite 500, Nashville, TN 37213, Cumberland River Compact © 2020 | People didn’t know what to do with them so they dumped them in the river. But the SELC argues that on-site pollution doesn’t necessarily stay on-site, and that the plant has been leeching pollutants into the Cumberland River, which acts as Nashville’s primary source of … “These unpermitted discharges, or ‘seeps,’ consist of contaminants that leak … directly into the Cumberland River.” Tests by both the TVA and independent labs indicate levels of … Get the weekly opinion newsletter for insightful and thought provoking columns. Hear more Tennessee Voices: Get the weekly opinion newsletter for insightful and thought provoking columns. After all, nonpoint source pollution (the pollution that comes from many different sources) is the result of a lot of people doing the wrong things. Nashville, TN—Today the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), on behalf of the Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club, filed a notice of intent to sue Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in federal court over violations of the Clean Water Act at TVA’s Cumberland Fossil Plant. TVA’s own studies show that over forty years of coal ash waste stored in unlined pits is illegally contaminating groundwater, … The main objective of this study is to gather data needed to help isolate/identify specific sources of PCBs in the three tributaries, work with partners to develop remediations, reduce PCB contamination and, along with other lines of evidence, determine if associated BUIs in the Niagara River AOC could be removed in the near or long term. The red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis) is a fairly nondescript woodpecker, slightly larger than a bluebird. swam the 687-mile entirety of the Cumberland River. To prove just how bad the state of the Cumberland River had become, Vic Scoggins swam the 687-mile entirety of the Cumberland River from Harlan Kentucky, to its confluence with the Ohio River. We are stronger together and when we prioritize a healthy community, we see results. This small fact holds such significance when we see the issues our lands and waters are facing in the midst of climate change, urbanization, loss of green spaces and trees, and degradation of the land that impacts the health of our waterways. Braving the waters littered with trash and raw sewage, Scoggins was determined to … Selenium can inhibit reproduction and growth, and cause deformities in fish and wildlife. The 2015 safeguards were supposed to fix this problem. Capt. CUMBERLAND RIVER WATERSHED (05130104) OF THE CUMBERLAND RIVER BASIN . The primary sources of fecal pollution in the upper Cumberland River drainage at this time were (1) improperly operating municipal WWTPs, (2) package treatment plants, (3) bypassing lift stations, and (4) illegal (straight pipe) discharges of untreated waste from private homes. Burkesville treats surface water from the Cumberland River. 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