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TVA Appeals Order to Remove Coal Ash at Gallatin Plant

Tennessee Valley Authority via Facebook

A federal utility is appealing a judge's order to excavate and move its coal ash at a Tennessee power plant. The Tennessee Valley Authority filed its appeal notice in Nashville federal court Monday over its Gallatin Fossil Plant near the city.

TVA says the cleanup would take 24 years and cost $550 million dollars using a lined landfill onsite, or up to $2 billion and possibly a different timeline with an offsite location.

The Southern Environmental Law Center, representing an environmental group in the suit, says TVA overestimates the time and cost.

A judge ordered the cleanup in August, saying coal ash storage is leaking pollutants into the Cumberland River and violating the Clean Water Act.

The judge said there's scant evidence of concrete harm beyond the risk and presence of pollutants.

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