Vigil in Knoxville for Kingston spill workers; rulings ahead
Leading up to a court case for the workers who cleaned up the 2008 Kingston coal ash spill, local organizations will hold a solidarity vigil beginning at Krutch Park in downtown Knoxville.
The rally will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 31, from Krutch Park, Knoxville, proceeding to the TVA Towers. Members of the public are welcome.
Participating groups include Sunrise Knoxville, Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM), Knoxville Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Jobs with Justice East Tennessee, Interfaith Worker Justice, Appalachian Voices, the Sierra Club Harvey Broome Group and the Knoxville Oak Ridge Central Labor Council.
"This will be one of multiple events across the South honoring the more than 900 workers who spent six years cleaning up the largest industrial spill in U.S. history," stated a news release sent by Adam Hughes, a community organizer with SOCM. "Since the cleanup, hundreds of workers have developed illnesses and families report that nearly 60 have died since working to clean up the toxic coal ash spill."
The vigil comes ahead of two rulings. One ruling will be whether Jacobs Engineering, the Tennessee Valley Authority contractor that led the cleanup from the 2008 spill, is immune from lawsuits. A federal appeals court will make that decision.
The second will be from the Tennessee Supreme Court, which is considering whether to classify coal ash as silica and mixed dust. If it does, and the court also decides the Tennessee Silica Claims Priorities Act applies to this case, the number of people allowed to sue is expected to be reduced because their cases will not meet the statute’s requirements.
More than 220 workers came forward with health problems after cleaning up the largest environmental disaster in United States history, the Kingston coal ash spill that took place at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston coal-fired power plant in Roane County.
More than 100 spouses have also filed accompanying claims because of the harm they’ve suffered because of their partners’ health conditions, according to the plaintiffs’ lawyers.
“I imagine workers all over the country, so thrilled to have a job, having no idea how toxic coal ash is,” Julie Bledsoe, whose husband worked to clean up the Kington coal ash spill and was later diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stated in the news release. “I can see them; good people trying to make a living and being exposed to coal ash and having their lives cut short. I can see people so happy to have a job and not knowing they are being harmed.”
Julie Bledsoe's brother-in-law, Doug Bledsoe also worked on the spill. He suffered brain and lung issues and died Aug. 12, 2022.
Bledsoe said she believed that “this happened to workers in Tennessee, and Tennesseans have the responsibility to make sure it never happens to other communities and workers.”
"As the U.S. transitions from coal and the EPA orders much-needed coal ash cleanup, the effects of this case will ripple throughout coal-impacted communities. It is vital that these communities receive meaningful protections and redress for past harm. Our groups stand in solidarity with Kingston workers and their families in their long journey for justice," the news release stated.
Anderson County environmentalist John Todd Waterman has shared that a virtual Facebook live event took place at noon last Thursday, May 26.
A prayer meeting will take place at 11:15 a.m. Central on Wednesday, June 1, outside of the Tennessee Supreme Court.
Anila Yoganathan with Knox News contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Vigil in Knoxville for Kingston spill workers; rulings ahead
