Tommy Johnson, one of the Kingston cleanup workers who sued over coal ash exposure, dies

Tommy Johnson, one of the workers at the center of lawsuits over the Kingston coal ash spill, died on May 18 after years of suffering from multiple illnesses. He was 71.

Johnson was one of the first workers called in to clean up after a dike holding slurry coal waste at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston power plant broke on Dec. 22, 2008, releasing 5.4 million cubic yards of liquified coal ash, covering homes and contaminating the Emory River Channel.

After years of working in the ash at the Roane County cleanup site, about 36 miles southwest of Knoxville, Johnson suffered from chronic aches, lack of sleep, chronic pulmonary obstructive disorder, problems with his kidneys, rashes, cold spells and fainting spells.

He wasn’t alone in facing such health problems. Starting almost 10 years ago, a group of workers - eventually including Johnson - began filing lawsuits, which now total about 220, against Jacobs Solutions, the TVA contractor that was in charge of sitewide safety and health at the Kingston cleanup.

For subscribers: 14 years after TVA's Kingston coal ash spill, workers' families might never be made whole

The workers won their first trial in 2018, when a jury ruled that Jacobs not only violated its contract with TVA but its actions could have caused the workers' injuries, including specific health conditions and diseases such as hypertension, respiratory conditions, coronary artery disease and several types of cancer, which the ruling linked specifically to coal ash at the site. Coal ash is the concentrated waste left after burning coal. It can contain heavy metals as well as elements that emit radiation.

The workers' cases await the second part of their trial, which will determine whether Jacobs Solutions bears responsibility for their individual illnesses and conditions.

Johnson didn’t live to see the end of the fight.

On April 30, surrounded by his community at the Believers Voice of Deliverance church in Harriman, Tennessee, just eight miles from TVA’s Kingston Fossil Plant, Johnson collapsed. He was hospitalized, and for weeks the coal ash workers community and his family and friends prayed, hoping he would continue his battle for survival, despite his health conditions.

He died three weeks later.

'I know what the ash will do'

Before his health failed him, Johnson wanted everyone to know what happened to the Kingston coal ash workers.

“Years on down, I want them all to know what they’ve done. I know what’s out there in the ash and I know what the ash will do. I done lost too many friends,” Johnson said last fall.

Faith was important to Johnson, who was a deacon at his church, where the community looked out for him.

“Even at church on Sunday mornings, I'm constantly looking at and watching him,” Betty Johnson, his wife of about 26 years, said last fall. “If it's too hot in the church or something and then when he's doing the Lord's Supper, he has to stand up there a long time. And not only me watching him, about the whole church is watching this, to see if he's going to be OK through the ceremony.”

Tommy Johnson’s health began failing while he was still working at Kingston. He would have moments when he would pass out on the job, relying on his friend and coworker, Ansol Clark, to look out for him as they worked on fuel trucks.

“Me and him worked everything together,” Johnson said last fall. “And kind of have one another's back.”

Clark and Johnson were best friends, like brothers. In 2021, Clark collapsed four days after the Jobs with Justice of East Tennessee Workers Memorial, which always holds a segment honoring the Kingston coal ash workers. He subsequently died.

“I'd like to see Ansol get his just dues, but maybe his wife and son can,” Tommy said last fall.

Much like his best friend, Johnson collapsed the day after attending the 2023 Jobs with Justice of East Tennessee Workers Memorial.

Before he died, Johnson had an active support system, including Betty and his three daughters, whom he affectionately called bossy as they looked out for him. Betty said their lives were completely altered as his health declined; before that they used to travel at the drop of a hat.

As his health declined, Betty Johnson’s anger rose against Jacobs Solutions and TVA.

“Deep down, there's still anger there because they have to take responsibility for what they did to him and others,” she said last fall.

The couple worked with other families to educate people around the country about what coal ash is and the dangers it poses, fighting for their story to be heard and marked as truth.

“I sit and I hear different ones pass away.” Tommy Johnson said last fall. “I lost some good friends that were sick and I’ve got some in Oak Ridge now and they’re sick. They are sick. And it’s because of this. Every one of us worked there before the spill, too.”

Anila Yoganathan is an investigative reporter. Email anila.yoganathan@knoxnews.com. Twitter @AnilaYoganathan.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tommy Johnson, Kingston coal ash cleanup worker, dies