TVA seeks same limits on releasing pollutants from Bull Run power plant

The Bull Run Fossil Plant is set to shut down by the end of 2023, but before it does, the Tennessee Valley Authority wants to modify its water permit to allow it to release pollutants into the Clinch River under the same limits allowed under an existing rule issued by the Environmental Protection Agency.

TDEC has scheduled a public hearing for the community on Jan. 12 at the TDEC Division of Remediation office in Oak Ridge, 761 Emory Valley Road, Oak Ridge. An informal Q&A will be 5-6 p.m., followed by the formal hearing 6-8 p.m. at which community members can voice any comments to TDEC.

Written comments can be submitted directly to Vojin Janjic at vojin.janjic@tn.gov until Jan. 26.

The Bull Run Fossil plant is near Oak Ridge and about 20 miles from Knoxville. The plant can power 865 megawatts to the TVA grid and is set to retire by Dec. 1, 2023. TVA still uses Bull Run intermittently despite the upcoming retirement; in order to continue operations, the plant has to have a water permit.

"TVA is an industry leader in the management of coal ash and has made substantial investments at all our coal facilities to protect natural resources and ensure compliance with state permits and federal regulations, including water treatment and water management. TVA will continue to invest as those regulations evolve," TVA spokesperson Scott Brooks said in an emailed statement to Knox News. "TVA is revising its Clean Water Act permit to incorporate new EPA requirements consistent with the TVA Board of Directors’ decision on February 14, 2019, to retire the Bull Run Fossil Plant by December 1, 2023."

Related: TVA plan details option to demolish Bull Run power plant

What does the Bull Run water permit do?

TVA’s coal plants have water permits that allow the utility to take water from the Clinch, use it for cooling or waste processing and then release it back into the river after treatment. TVA must ensure that the water it releases back into the waterway is compliant with federal rules, but those rules keep changing with presidential administrations.

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation is responsible for issuing TVA’s water permit on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency. EPA guidelines were changed in 2020 under the Trump administration, rolling back standards from 2015 for two types of waste. The 2020 regulations also carved out less stringent rules for different types of plants.

TVA’s draft permit for Bull Run lists the plant under the retirement subcategory, which would require TVA to limit only the amount of total suspended solids in the two waste streams. TVA could change this category in the future but the retirement one requires the least testing of the water TVA will return to the Clinch River from Bull Run.

The EPA has announced it plans to improve the 2020 rule in an updated version but those changes have not yet materialized.

How does the 2020 rule roll back water quality protections?

The 2020 rule reduced restrictions on the wastewater generated from the process of Flue Gas Desulfurization and Bottom Ash.

Both wastes enter a dewatering facility where ash is separated from the water before being dried and disposed of. The water undergoes treatment to comply with the regulations listed in its permit before it is returned to the river.

Under the modified permit for the 2020 rule, TVA would have to measure and limit only the amount of suspended solids in the water before dumping it back into the Clinch. However, ash in these wastewater doesn’t just take on a solid form; it also can dissolve.

What is in the waste the Bull Run Fossil Plant releases?

Coal ash is the waste left over after coal is burned, leaving behind concentrated elements such as heavy metals and potentially elements that emit radiation. To regulate the release of this waste in the water, the EPA created limits on the release of certain elements - This included limits on arsenic, mercury, selenium and nitrite/nitrate - in wastewater for water permit holders.

More:EPA: Get a grip on half a billion tons of coal ash, including in East Tennessee, lawsuit says

Each of these elements can dissolve based on certain conditions of the water. The process also is known as “leaching.” Once those elements have leached into the wastewater, they might not be measured and treated under the total suspended solids limitations. This means the plant could dump those elements into the Clinch River via the wastewater and it would be allowed under the permit.

Conservation groups including, the Southern Environmental Law Center, Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment, the Center for Biological Diversity, Appalachian Voices, and the Sierra Club said in a letter that TDEC should evaluate "membrane technology" to filter out "toxic pollutants in coal ash leachate."

While the 2020 rule generally still limits these elements, those limits do not apply to Bull Run’s permit because of the retirement category.

What’s the current water quality of the Clinch River?

The Clinch River is a large body of water flowing through the Appalachian Mountains. Bull Run’s permit would discharge its wastewater at mile 48.

But Bull Run isn’t the only power plant that discharges waste into the Clinch River. In neighboring Roane County, TVA has the Kingston Fossil Plant, another coal plant where TVA successfully modified its water permit under the 2020 regulations.

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

The river has experienced legacy contamination over the years, an example of what the Clean Water Act is trying to remediate. TDEC has fish advisories for three nearby reservoirs on the Clinch River.

The entire Melton Hill Reservoir, located adjacent to the Bull Run plant, is contaminated with PCBs. TDEC warns residents not to eat the catfish.

More:Tennessee environmental regulators relax pollutants standards for TVA on Kingston plant

Similarly, the Watts Bar Reservoir, which is located near the Kingston plant in both Roane and Anderson, is contaminated with PCBs. TDEC warns residents not to eat catfish, striped bass and hybrid (striped bass-white bass), and has a precautionary advisory for white bass, sauger, carp, smallmouth buffalo and largemouth bass.

Lastly, Norris Reservoir, located partially in Anderson County but not including the Powell River portion, is contaminated with mercury. TDEC has a precautionary advisory for residents not to eat the largemouth bass, striped bass, smallmouth bass and sauger.

CORRECTION: The original version of this article mistakenly reported that Bull Run Fossil Plant could increase the amount of pollutants being discharged into the Clinch River under a modified water permit. TVA is requesting the same limits allowed under an existing EPA rule. We regret the error.

Anila Yoganathan is a Knox News investigative reporter. You can contact her at anila.yoganathan@knoxnews.com, and follow her on Twitter @anilayoganathan. Enjoy exclusive content and premium perks while supporting strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: TVA's next water permit for Bull Run could follow 2020 EPA regulations