Aug 17 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - J.J. Stambaugh The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn.



People living in the vicinity of the Emory River in Roane County have suffered no serious health effects from the cataclysmic 2008 Kingston coal ash spill and aren't expected to develop health problems in the future, according to a report by medical experts made public today.

"Over an eight-month period, we conducted independent comprehensive evaluations of more than 200 residents who opted to undergo a medical evaluation at no cost to the resident," said epidemiologist Donna Cragle, who is vice president of Occupational Exposure and Worker Health for Oak Ridge Associated Universities. "The evaluation was available to any Roane County resident who had health concerns about the fly ash spill."

Half of those who took part in the study lived within two miles of the disaster, according to a summary of the report. They ranged in age from less than one year to 89 years old and were almost evenly divided between males and females.

"The medical evaluation included health history, physical examination, a breathing test (spirometry), chest X-ray, routine urinalysis, complete blood count, blood chemistry and biological monitoring tests," according to the report. "Some residents initially reported symptoms related to upper airway irritation, such (as) runny nose, cough and congestion. The physical examination conducted as part of the medical evaluation found that most participants were normal and that abnormalities or variations were due primarily to preexisting medical conditions."

 Residents were also tested for levels of aluminum, arsenic, barium, beryllium, chromium, cobalt, copper, nickel, selenium, thallium and vanadium.

"We chose these agents (with the exception of selenium and thallium) for testing because they were found to be in high concentrations in fly ash-contaminated soil as compared to non-fly ash-contaminated soil in Roane County," Cragle said. "While selenium and thallium did not exceed regional background soil measurement, they were included in the screening due to their potential health risks."

The screening program didn't find elevated levels of arsenic, cobalt or nickel, the report said, but a small number of residents had above normal levels of copper, aluminum, chromium, and selenium.

Nonetheless, "no one out of 214 participants had any levels requiring further medical attention," the report summary said.

The spill, caused when a portion of the Kingston Fossil Plant's ash storage facility collapsed, dumped 5.4 million cubic yards of ash sludge into the river and surrounding areas early Dec. 22, 2008. Coal ash contains heavy metals like arsenic, lead and selenium, and the disaster prompted immediate concerns about the effects on human health and long-term damage to the environment.

The spill rattled area residents, put a damper on lakefront property sales and, combined with the recession, affected the local tourism economy.

In June, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation slapped TVA with a record $11.5 million in civil penalties for the spill.

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