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Landowners Sue TVA Over Coal Ash Spill
Suit Asks For $15M In Compensatory Damage, $150M In Punitive Damages
POSTED: 3:20 pm CST December 30,
2008
UPDATED: 10:32 pm CST December 30,
2008
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- An eastern Tennessee family has filed a $165 million lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority over a massive coal ash spill.
RAW AERIAL VIDEO: TVA Retention Pond Bursts | ImagesThe six-page lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Roane County by Jot and Brenda Raymond. It asks for $15 million in compensatory damage and $150 million in punitive damages.The couple suing are the owners and developers of North Lake Estates there. They claim they can't show prospective buyers their property, which they describe as suffering "significant and immediate damage" to its value since the Dec. 22 spill from a power plant.Also named as plaintiffs are Lea Ann Raymond and Chris Raymond, who own property in the subdivision.TVA spokesman John Molten declined to comment, saying the federal utility has yet to review the lawsuit.Attorneys for the plaintiffs didn't immediately return calls seeking comment.More people could be added to the suit as it moves forward.State and federal officials are warning residents who use private wells to stop drinking that water after high levels of arsenic were found in the water samples.Bredesen To Visit Roane CountyGov. Phil Bredesen is scheduled to head to east Tennessee Wednesday to tour the area where a holding dyke burst at the TVA plant last week.The state confirmed Tuesday that it is testing the muck for radioactivity.Sludge from burned coal typically has radioactive qualities. The question is how much radiation are residents and cleanup crews being exposed to.More than a billion gallons of coal ash spilled out on about 300 acres and destroyed three homes.
RAW AERIAL VIDEO: TVA Retention Pond Bursts | ImagesThe six-page lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Roane County by Jot and Brenda Raymond. It asks for $15 million in compensatory damage and $150 million in punitive damages.The couple suing are the owners and developers of North Lake Estates there. They claim they can't show prospective buyers their property, which they describe as suffering "significant and immediate damage" to its value since the Dec. 22 spill from a power plant.Also named as plaintiffs are Lea Ann Raymond and Chris Raymond, who own property in the subdivision.TVA spokesman John Molten declined to comment, saying the federal utility has yet to review the lawsuit.Attorneys for the plaintiffs didn't immediately return calls seeking comment.More people could be added to the suit as it moves forward.State and federal officials are warning residents who use private wells to stop drinking that water after high levels of arsenic were found in the water samples.Bredesen To Visit Roane CountyGov. Phil Bredesen is scheduled to head to east Tennessee Wednesday to tour the area where a holding dyke burst at the TVA plant last week.The state confirmed Tuesday that it is testing the muck for radioactivity.Sludge from burned coal typically has radioactive qualities. The question is how much radiation are residents and cleanup crews being exposed to.More than a billion gallons of coal ash spilled out on about 300 acres and destroyed three homes.
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