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• Bassmaster anglers ahead of Knoxville game: The trash can get your bass
  in Water
  By Ben Pounds

  Professional angler Ish Monroe removes yet another bag of trash and a broken chair piece to take back to shore during a cleanup ahead of this weekend’s Bassmaster tournament on Fort Loudoun Lake.  Ben Pounds/Hellbender Press

  Ahead of marquee Knoxville lake showdown, pro anglers fish trash for fish on

  KNOXVILLE — The 2023 Academy Sports + Outdoors Bassmaster Classic presented by Huk will be in Knoxville March 24 through 26 with competition on the Tennessee River lakes of Fort Loudoun and Tellico. 

  One-minute interview.

  Ahead of the competition a crowd of volunteers, including several competitive anglers, were out working in the humblest way. They picked up garbage from the banks of Fort Loudoun in the Louisville area. 

  The pros were joined by people associated with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful and Yamaha Rightwaters, all of whom banded together to gather Fort Loudoun Lake’s garbage on Tuesday, March 21. They walked along an exposed shoreline, grabbing garbage both large and small. Among the larger recovered items were a traffic safety barrel, a broken chair and the ruins of an old boat.

  This cleanup wasn’t just for the sake of preparing for the the tournament. It also represented a desire to conserve the river’s wildlife for its own sake.

• ‘Egregious’ abuse of power: Judge slams TWRA falcon seizure and owner’s prosecution
  in News
  By Anita Wadhwani

  Lamar bestows a kiss on one of her raptors. John Partipilo via Tennessee Lookout

  Judge rules that Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency grossly overstepped its bounds following citizen complaint
  

  This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout.

  NASHVILLE — Holly Lamar, a master falconer and owner of a Nashville “bird experience” business, has a story to tell about each one of her 13 captive-bred birds of prey.

  The story behind Faith, a 7-year-old peregrine falcon, is tied to a particularly rough patch for Lamar, who experienced success as a Grammy-nominated songwriter, then lost nearly everything. The 20-day-old chick arrived just after Lamar fell victim to a financial scam that wiped out earnings from her music career.

  She picked the name “Faith” to symbolize the feelings of trust she was trying to regain in her life — and as a nod to Faith Hill, the country singer who recorded “Breathe,” a 1999 megahit co-written by Lamar. 

  Faith, the falcon, is now dead — one of 13 falcons seized by officers with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency in a sweeping August search of Lamar’s home and property that a Nashville judge later characterized as “egregious,” an “abuse of the law” and a violation of Lamar’s constitutional rights.

• Government Accountability Office: TVA lagging in climate change adjustments
  in News
  By Adam Goldstein

  TVA service area and power generation assets.  Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) | GAO-23-105375

  GAO report concludes TVA is flat-footed on climate-change risks to infrastructure

  This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout.

  WASHINGTON — Extreme weather patterns have sparked several improvements to the climate resiliency of Tennessee Valley Authority electrical infrastructure over the past two decades. 

  A report from a government watchdog, however, found the huge utility still has work to do in mitigating climate hazards to the regional power grid. (Bitter cold around Christmas led TVA to implement rolling blackouts).

  “TVA has taken several steps to manage climate-related risks,” the Jan. 30 report from the Government Accountability Office said. “However, TVA has not conducted an inventory of assets and operations vulnerable to climate change, or developed a resilience plan that identifies and prioritizes resilience measures to address specific risks.” 

  One issue: The Southeast has experienced a period of accelerated warming since the 1960s. Among cities in the region, 61 percent are experiencing worsening heat waves, a percentage greater than anywhere else in the country, according to the GAO. 

  The report came in response to a five-part joint request for information on the climate resiliency of U.S. infrastructure, from U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Tom Carper of Delaware. The two Democrats sent their request to the GAO on May 13, 2019. 

• Water and waste on TVA agenda as utility plans Bull Run shutdown
  in News
  By Ben Pounds

  Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton, Tennessee, was originally commissioned 55 years ago but TVA is now soliciting public input on the best way to shut down operations. Tennessee Valley Authority

  TVA solicits public input following release of environmental assessment for Bull Run Fossil Plant decommission

  CLAXTON — Tennessee Valley Authority plans to close its Bull Run Fossil Plant (BRF) in Anderson County, but it’s still looking for public input on what comes next.

  “As a large, inflexible coal unit with medium operating costs and a high forced outage rate, BRF does not fit current and likely future portfolio needs,” the federal utility said in a draft Environmental Assessment.

  TVA is looking at three different options for the future of the structures still standing on the site by the Clinch River near Oak Ridge: taking down all structures; taking down some of them; or leaving everything standing. A recent report lays out the environmental consequences of each of these actions. The report, in draft form, is against that third choice, listing it as only an option for the sake of comparison.

  “If the facility is left in the “as-is” condition, it likely would present a higher risk than Alternatives A or B for the potential to contaminate soil and groundwater as systems and structures degrade. As such, this alternative is not a reasonable alternative,” the draft states.

  TVA stated its considering removing “all or most of the buildings and structures” on a 250-acre area. After closing the plant, but before any demolitions, TVA will begin by removing components that may be used at other TVA sites, draining of oil and fluids from equipment, taking ash out of the boilers, removing information technology assets, removing plant records and other tasks.

  The Bull Run Environmental Assessment is 170 pages long and available for public review. It doesn’t directly tackle the coal ash storage conundrum that has grabbed the attention of politicians, nearby residents and environmental activists, because that issue involves separate regulations. 

• APIEL, the 13th Appalachian Public Interest and Environmental Law conference is set for Saturday, October 1
  in News
  By Wolf Naegeli

  ELO is a student-run organization at the University of Tennessee College of Law. It is not directly affiliated with the University of Tennesse or any particular non-profit organization. It is dedicated to providing students and attorneys with learning opportunities and leadership experiences.

  Networking environmental leaders across Appalachia and the State of Tennessee

  Knoxville — APIEL is a relative newcomer to the small circle of inclusive U.S. public interest environmental law conferences. Because it is organized by law school student volunteers, APIEL is affordable to attend for students as well as citizens from all walks of life.

  APIEL is much loved and considered essential by regional nonprofit leaders and activists. It is also highly acclaimed by seasoned environmental lawyers. With just 12 conferences under its belt, APIEL has risen to rank among leading peer conferences with a much longer track record, such as the  Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC) at the University of Oregon School of Law (39 events), the Red Clay Conference at the University of Georgia School of Law (34) and the Public Interest Environmental Conference (PIEC) at the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law (28).

• Enviros to TVA: Retire the fossil-fuel pacifier
  in News
  By Dulce Torres Guzman

  TVA’s Cumberland Fossil Plant near Clarksville is the subject of a suit filed by environmental groups, including Appalachian Voices and Southern Environmental Law Center.  Tennessee Valley Authority

  SELC, others file suit in hopes of dissuading TVA from future fossil options

  This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout.

  CLARKSVILLE — On behalf of the Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club and Appalachian Voices, the Southern Environmental Law Center asked TVA to prepare a supplemental environmental statement to address concerns with TVA’s draft environmental impact statement, which details the agency’s plans to retire the Cumberland Fossil Plant.

  The Cumberland Fossil Plant, about 22 miles southwest of Clarksville, is TVA’s largest coal-fired power station and was built between 1968 and 1973. TVA plans to retire each unit of the two-unit, coal-fired steam-generation plant separately: one unit no later than 2030, and the second unit no later than 2033. But the plant will need to be replaced, and TVA is currently considering three alternatives to fossil fuel, including natural gas and solar energy, according to its draft EIS.

  (Tennessee Valley Authority already plans to close down the Knoxville-area Bull Run fossil plant in Claxton next year).

• U.S. Supreme Court’s recent clean-air ruling renews spotlight on fossil-energy producers like TVA
  in News
  By Anita Wadhwani

  Supreme Court air-pollution ruling calls into stark context all that must be done

  This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout.

  KNOXVILLE — The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling limiting the power of the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate carbon emissions that cause climate change has renewed the spotlight on the Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation’s largest public utility and Tennessee’s primary source of electricity.

  The case involved EPA efforts to implement a key provision of the Clean Air Act in a challenge brought by 15 Republican-led states. That provision, which never went into effect, would have required existing power plants to shift from dirty sources of energy — such as coal — to cleaner sources, including solar and wind, as part of an urgent effort to reduce global warming.

• Hot weather doesn’t always equal evidence of climate change, but the puzzle is almost complete
  in News
  By JJ Stambaugh

  Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press

  TVA sets record power day for June as region swelters and common sense degrades

  This story was originally published by Hard Knox Wire.

  KNOXVILLE — City residents this week joined scores of others around the world — from the Southwest United States to the Indian subcontinent — sweltering through late spring with eyes toward a summer that portends to be very hot.

  Whether directly attributed to climate change or not, the heat waves are causing untold misery in locations across the Northern Hemisphere, straining power grids to the brink and causing a sharp rise in heat-related illnesses. 

  Knoxville Utilities Board asked this week that consumers curtail their electricity use by setting their thermostats a little higher and holding off until night on energy-sucking tasks like doing laundry or running the dishwasher. That request was met in many cases with derision and unsubstantiated claims that charging electric vehicles had overburdened energy infrastructure.

  So exactly how hot is it in East Tennessee and how bad is it going to get?

• Race your ride and scoop some gnarl this weekend on the Tennessee River
  in Water
  By Thomas Fraser

  KNOXVILLE — Knox County and the Water Quality Forum will host the ​fifth-annual Cheers to Clean Water Celebration and Clean-Up on Saturday (June 11) at Suttree Landing Park across the river from downtown.

  The event, which includes a water race for kayaks and paddle boarders, kicks off at 11:30 a.m. and registration is open until 10:30 a.m. the day of the event. ​Following the race there will be a celebration that includes local vendors and booths, kids’ activities, kayaks for rental, blue grass music, food trucks, rain barrels, and prizes. The celebration and cleanup are free and open to the public. The race costs $15. Local breweries ​have donated beer for purchase.

  “This event is a fun way to promote the importance of keeping our rivers and streams clean,” said Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs.

  For a full list of prices and to register for the event click here.

  The Water Quality Forum is a coalition of diverse partners including local governments, non-profits, utility companies and businesses that work together to keep East Tennessee waters clean. The Knox County stormwater office is working with the forum to host the event.

  — Knox County government

• Knoxville kids go beast mode at new natural playscape
  in Earth
  By Cindy Hassil

  A child defends an elaborate stick fort at Ijams Natural Playscape, which opened this week at the South Knoxville nature center.  Ijams Nature Center

  New Ijams playground reconnects kids with neighborhood woods, forts and creeks of yore

  KNOXVILLE — Ijams Nature Center officially opened a portal into pure childhood beast mode this week.

  The Ijams Nature Playscape at Grayson Subaru Preserve is specifically designed for young children to play in a creek, climb hills, dig, build, crawl and engage with nature in an organic, unstructured way. The new space features a large nest, tunnels, log steps and different rooms to play in.

  “For generations, many of us had the opportunity to roam and play in the woods, empty lots and fields that surrounded our homes and neighborhoods,” Ijams Executive Director Amber Parker said. “We remember the freedom we had to use our imagination, test ourselves and become a part of the natural landscape, at least until we were called home for dinner.”