Congressman-elect Burchett calls for probe into poisoning of Kingston disaster workers

Jamie Satterfield | Knoxville

Show Caption Hide Caption Kingston coal ash spill worker victims speak out Laborers who worked at the Kingston coal ash spill site speak out about their health complications and what they want the public to know.

Tennessee Congressman-elect Tim Burchett is calling for an investigation into the poisoning of hundreds of heavy equipment operators and laborers who contained and cleaned up the nation’s largest coal ash spill.

More than 30 workers who responded to an emergency call of 7.65 million tons of coal ash spilling from a dike at the TVA Kingston Fossil Fuel Power Plant in Roane County nearly a decade ago are now dead. More than 250 are sick or dying.

A jury in U.S. District Court last week ruled Jacobs Engineering, the global contractor the Tennessee Valley Authority put in charge of worker safety during the clean up, breached its $64 million contract with TVA when its safety managers denied the disaster workers protective gear, lied to them about the dangers of coal ash, threatened their jobs if they wore respiratory masks and tampered with exposure level testing.

The ruling, though, only paves the way for a second trial at which the disaster workers must again mount a case against Jacobs – this time in hopes of getting money to cover medical testing and treatment.

Many of the workers are uninsured, and their families are now sick, too. Some are now too sick to work. Those who died were the primary breadwinners for their families and had little, if any, life insurance. The workers are paying their own medical and legal bills.

More: Poisoned Kingston disaster workers still searching for justice a decade later

Burchett: Workers 'deserve answers'

Some of those workers and their families live in the 2nd Congressional District, where Burchett earlier this month won a congressional seat. The former Knox County mayor was in Washington, D.C., this week for orientation but stepped away from it to answer USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee’s query about the workers’ case.

"I have been following the recent news reports related to the illness and deaths of employees who worked on the TVA coal ash cleanup, and I am deeply disturbed by what is being reported," Burchett said.

Burchett said he believes the disaster workers deserve answers and justice.

"I hope that TVA, EPA and the U.S. Attorney's office will fully investigate this matter,” Burchett said. “If necessary, I will seek a formal congressional investigation into this matter, because those affected deserve answers and anyone at fault should be held accountable."

The workers didn’t sue TVA because TVA – with approval from the EPA and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation – put Jacobs in charge of the cleanup, shielding TVA from litigation.

A USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee probe last year revealed TVA had agreed to pay Jacobs’ defense bills under its contract.

Coverage: USA Today Network-Tennessee investigation

TVA won’t say, though, if the agency is picking up the tab for Jacobs in the workers’ lawsuit. TVA also won’t say what happened to surveillance videos that could have helped the workers prove their case against Jacobs.

Missing videos, lobbying

TVA was required to preserve the videos under an EPA administrative consent order on the cleanup. Failure to do so is a violation of the order and a violation of federal law. The utility will only say it “no longer has” the videos. Spokesman Scott Brooks has repeatedly refused to answer questions about them.

Trial testimony showed TVA lobbied alongside Jacobs for lowering worker safety standards soon after the disaster clean-up work began and convinced the EPA to strip public warning signs of the words “hazardous waste.”

Former TVA spokeswoman Anda Ray declared – falsely – that coal ash was safe in a televised interview soon after the spill. The workers had sought her testimony to be able to show jurors that both TVA and Jacobs were lying about the dangers of coal ash, but Ray refused.

Workers testified they were repeatedly told they could not wear respiratory protection because TVA – which was being sued by landowners impacted by the spill – didn’t want to frighten the public.

USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee revealed in its 18-month-long investigation TVA clean-up supervisor Gary McDonald knew workers were complaining of breathing problems and asking for protection. McDonald admitted in a sworn deposition he fired a worker whose doctor insisted on a respiratory mask to protect him.

TVA mum

TVA won’t say if it will seek to hold Jacobs accountable for what the jury said was a breach of its contract.

“TVA will not comment on the verdict in the first phase of these bifurcated cases, or any assessment of TVA's rights and obligations under contracts relating to those cases, until there has been a final disposition of the litigation through the judicial process,” Brooks said.

TVA’s Office of the Inspector General, which already determined the nation’s largest electricity provider was at fault for the spill, won’t say if it is investigating Jacobs’ breach of contract or TVA’s role in the poisoning of the workers.

“We can neither confirm nor deny the existence of an ongoing investigation in order to safeguard the potential outcome of an investigation should one exist,” said spokeswoman Stephanie Hoglund.

The EPA also won’t say if it intends to investigate whether TVA and Jacobs violated its administrative order on the disaster clean up.

“EPA does not comment on potential or ongoing criminal or enforcement proceedings,” said spokesman Jason McDonald.

U.S. Attorney Doug Overbey likewise is keeping his lips sealed on whether a federal probe will be conducted – or whether one is already underway.

“It is the policy of the U.S. Attorney’s Office not to comment on the existence or status of an investigation or pending litigation,” spokeswoman Sharry Dedman-Beard said in an email.

Roane prosecutor up in arms

Prosecutor Russell Johnson, whose 9th judicial district includes Roane County, has been pressing for an investigation since USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee first published its series of reports on the treatment of workers last year.

He believes TDEC, given oversight authority under the EPA administrative order on the clean up, should call for a criminal probe. Trial testimony showed Jacobs tampered with testing TDEC relied upon when the agency assured Roane County citizens they were safe during the cleanup.

“I’ve been in contact with the (Tennessee Bureau of Investigation),” Johnson said Tuesday. “I’m reminding the TBI, ‘I told you about this and we need to force TDEC’s hand.’”

TVA gave Roane County leaders more than $40 million after the spill. Contacted last year about the workers’ treatment, Roane County Mayor Ron Woody told USA TODAY NETWORK-Tennessee the blue-collar laborers were lying, and TVA had treated the community well.

He told Johnson the same thing.

“The county mayor said, ‘You’re crazy. That’s wrong.’” Johnson said. “Now the county commissioners are coming to me and the mayor is now saying what should we do about this.”

Woody didn’t return a call for comment this week, but he told the Roane County News on Friday he now feels “misled.”

“Apparently we may have been misled on the toxicity of the ash,” Woody told the Roane County publication. “We’ve been told one thing from TVA, and there has been a jury that has found something out opposite of that.”

Johnson said he is urging county commissioners to pursue legal action against TVA. He noted the county already suffered economically from the spill and now is being labeled the place where as many as 900 workers were poisoned.

“The loss of jobs, the stigma that’s already attached, it’s going to be difficult to recruit jobs,” Johnson said. “It speaks volumes (TVA ratepayers) paid Jacobs $64 million, and they’re not mad at Jacobs … coupled with the ‘lost’ videos and that they lobbied to lower worker safety standards. TVA is probably complicit in this.”

Burchett stands alone

Burchett’s congressional colleagues declined to call for an investigation or criticize TVA when contacted this week.

“My heart goes out to the workers who responded to the 2008 Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill,” U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said in a statement. “Although their task was arduous and grueling, their actions were critical to Roane County’s recovery.

“I know that TVA works hard to ensure the safety of its employees and contractors and am confident that the judicial system will determine whether workplace safety laws were violated following the 2008 spill,” Corker continued.

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., also insisted “the courts are the appropriate place” to determine what happened to the workers and why.

“Everyone should be grateful to the workers who helped clean up the coal ash spill site and protect the community from further damage,” Alexander said.

U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., said he was “distraught” by the “damage and destruction” of the spill and is “grateful for the efforts of many to clean up and rebuild the community. “I trust the judgement (sic) of the courts and elected officials to make the correct determination if any laws were violated in connection with this tragedy,” he said in a statement.