Kentucky Environmental Disaster And Toxic Tort Waiting To Happen?
Concerns are percolating over a coal ash pond in Trimble County, Kentucky. LG&E is looking to expand the pond it developed to store waste from its power plant near Bedford. The ash pond sits on a flood plain of the Ohio River and is only 30 miles upstream from Louisville, Kentucky's drinking water intake.
An ash pond near Kingston, Tennessee spilled 5.4 million of cubic yards of coal ash in the Emory River and onto private property on December 22, 2008. Affected residents have been experiencing health problems and mass deaths of birds and small wildlife. One resident complained that recent tests revealed extremely high levels of lead, mercury and aluminum in his body.
Environmental groups looking at the Kentucky pond are expressing concerns about the release of toxic heavy metals and other pollutants into the Ohio River and the effectiveness of the treatment process being proposed to deal with LG&E's expansion of the pond.
If something similar to the Tennessee disaster were to happen to the Trimble County ash pond, it could be an environmental catastrophe for people locally and many miles downstream, including Louisville. This a matter of public safety that needs more attention.
For more information on this subject and the rights of those injured or killed by environmental hazards, contact Louisville, Kentucky attorney Will Nefzger by clicking on this link: e-mail Will. You can also find out more information about me and my firm by clicking on the Website link at the top of this page and going to my bio page.
