A new report issued by the Inspector General of the Tennessee Valley Authority is critical of the agency for not using the National Incident Management System during the December coal ash spill as directed by Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD)-5.
From an AP story:
Emergency responders with other agencies complained that TVA managers were “speaking a different language” in the key hours after the spill because they were unfamiliar with the protocol’s terms and concepts. Some TVA managers were even scrambling to look up terms on the Internet before consultants were finally hired to straighten things out at a cost of $510,000, the auditors said.
The communications breakdown caused delays in getting environmental data about the ash, in assessing the stability of the remaining dike and in distributing health and safety information to the public, including a 12-hour delay in lifting an evacuation order.
The coal ash spill at their Kingston Fossil Plant involved 5.4 million cubic yards of ash pouring onto adjacent land and into the Emory River.
