The Tennessee Valley Authority Produced a Booklet Downplaying Coal Ash Risks. Top Researchers Call it ‘Dishonest.’
Key takeaways
- May 15, 2026 Share This Article Republish Aerial view of the Tennessee Valley Authority's Cumberland Fossil Plant in Cumberland City, Tenn.
- Avner Vengosh, chair of environmental quality at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, called the booklet “unbelievable” and part of a “misleading public campaign.”
- “It s scary,” Vengosh told Inside Climate News after reviewing the booklet. “It s like alternative reality.”
Why this matters: environmental and climate reporting with long-term consequences.
May 15, 2026 Share This Article Republish Aerial view of the Tennessee Valley Authority's Cumberland Fossil Plant in Cumberland City, Tenn. Credit: Stephen A. Smith/Southern Alliance for Clean Energy Related How Alabama Power Has Left the ‘American Amazon’ at Risk They Fell Sick After Cleaning Up a TVA Toxic Disaster. A New Book Details Their Legal Battle Over 130 Power Plants That Have Spawned Leaking Toxic Coal Ash Ponds and Landfills Don’t Think Cleanup Is Necessary Share This Article Republish Most Popular As El Niño Approaches, Scientists Predict Fierce Heatwaves, Wildfires and Floods Plugging Away at the Millions of Derelict Oil and Gas Wells in the US After a Century Powering Its Growth With Dams, Seattle Settles With Tribes That Lost Their River A 35-page booklet distributed in a public meeting by the Tennessee Valley Authority about coal ash is filled with “lies” and misleading information, according to coal ash researchers.
The booklet, titled “Know the Facts: Coal Ash,” did not include any TVA branding or author information, but the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy says TVA employees distributed the pamphlets at a public comment session on the agency’s coal ash remediation plan for one of its coal plants in Tennessee.
Avner Vengosh, chair of environmental quality at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment, called the booklet “unbelievable” and part of a “misleading public campaign.”