Post by L Roebuck on May 8, 2006 8:59:01 GMT -5
Lake owner says water still at risk after '04 chemical spill
By BRAD SCHRADE
Staff Writer
When Butch Coulombe saw Wartrace Lake, he fell in love with its beauty immediately and bought a house on its shore.
For two decades, he's lived in the Robertson County haven in Springfield, raised children, ate the lake's bounty of fish and awoke to the sound of geese taking off from its waters.
Then, in August 2004, an industrial chemical spill from a nearby automotive interior products plant escaped into a sinkhole, through a cave, into a nearby creek, and into the lake.
Waters foamed from the chemical, fish died along the creek and the geese left.
Coulombe and the lake's owner, Jacquelyn Guthrie, say state environmental regulators were slow to react, never fully acknowledged the problem and never held the company, Collins and Aikman, accountable for the spill.
"When things looked as bad as they were and the guy tested and tells me everything is fine," Coulombe said. "I wasn't buying that. There was just too much foam."
In May 2005 the company ran into financial problems and filed for bankruptcy. The cleanup and monitoring effort abruptly stopped, according to Guthrie and her attorney Elizabeth Murphy. More than a year and a half later, there is still a problem, they said.
The chemical seeped into the sediment of the creek, according to Guthrie and Murphy, and when it rains the sediment moves and releases the chemical into the lake, as was the case with the heavy rains a couple of weeks ago.
State officials with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation say they investigated the matter properly, did everything they could and that the spill no longer presents a problem.
A company spokesman for Collins and Aikman said it has complied with the state's cleanup requirements. State officials say the company still owes more than $5,000 in penalties and damages, but resolving that has been tied up by its bankruptcy proceedings.
Guthrie said she's had to spend more than $15,000 of her own money on lawyer fees and tests to determine the scope of the problem and try to get some help. She and her attorney both claim the state should have been more proactive in holding the company accountable and forcing a cleanup.
"The state was eager to exact a minuscule fine and applaud the efforts of (Collins and Aikman) as if they had done a great service to the town of Springfield and its land owners and leave the contaminants in the stream," Murphy wrote in an Oct. 27, 2005, complaint letter to TDEC Commissioner Jim Fyke.
"The question is, why. … It is exasperating to say the least for my client to watch while the state … leaves this matter unattended."
TDEC has been to the site several times since the spill to monitor, said Joey Holland, a manager of water pollution control in the agency's Nashville district.
Holland said the spill presents no danger to fish or humans. The material spilled, Acoustiflex, is a polyether polyolthat is not toxic and becomes less concentrated as time goes on, he said.
"I didn't take anybody's side other than the environment's," Holland said.
In his December 2005 answer to Guthrie's complaint, Fyke said the department may take enforcement action if any new evidence of a threat to human health or the environment is found, but he disputed claims the department didn't properly investigate or enforce the law.
TDEC spokeswoman Dana Coleman said Guthrie had 30 days to appeal the commissioner's decision and didn't. She said the department continues to send field agents to the site when Guthrie notifies them of a problem. The most recent sampling taken by TDEC was last week, but the results had not come back on Friday.
"They continue to call and express concern and we continue to go out and investigate," Coleman said."We're trying to be as responsive as we can be."
As for claims of property owners that there is still work to be done, the Troy, Mich.-based company's spokesman David Youngman said he is unaware of any issues.
The Springfield plant, which manufacturers sound insulation and other products for automobile interiors, is among dozens of plants the company operates in North America.
"We are of the understanding that the cleanup has been completed and we have not been informed of any new developments," Youngman said.
For now, the geese have started returning to the lake.
She and Coulombe are reminded of the spill when a heavy rain comes and the waters foam up. Guthrie said she doesn't know if the contaminated sediment from the creek will cause more damage to her lake, but the possibility concerns her.
"If there's a lot of that stuff in that sediment it could wash up and move," Guthrie said. "We don't know.
"We know they didn't finish the cleanup. It could be OK but then again it might not be OK."
Tennessean.com
By BRAD SCHRADE
Staff Writer
When Butch Coulombe saw Wartrace Lake, he fell in love with its beauty immediately and bought a house on its shore.
For two decades, he's lived in the Robertson County haven in Springfield, raised children, ate the lake's bounty of fish and awoke to the sound of geese taking off from its waters.
Then, in August 2004, an industrial chemical spill from a nearby automotive interior products plant escaped into a sinkhole, through a cave, into a nearby creek, and into the lake.
Waters foamed from the chemical, fish died along the creek and the geese left.
Coulombe and the lake's owner, Jacquelyn Guthrie, say state environmental regulators were slow to react, never fully acknowledged the problem and never held the company, Collins and Aikman, accountable for the spill.
"When things looked as bad as they were and the guy tested and tells me everything is fine," Coulombe said. "I wasn't buying that. There was just too much foam."
In May 2005 the company ran into financial problems and filed for bankruptcy. The cleanup and monitoring effort abruptly stopped, according to Guthrie and her attorney Elizabeth Murphy. More than a year and a half later, there is still a problem, they said.
The chemical seeped into the sediment of the creek, according to Guthrie and Murphy, and when it rains the sediment moves and releases the chemical into the lake, as was the case with the heavy rains a couple of weeks ago.
State officials with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation say they investigated the matter properly, did everything they could and that the spill no longer presents a problem.
A company spokesman for Collins and Aikman said it has complied with the state's cleanup requirements. State officials say the company still owes more than $5,000 in penalties and damages, but resolving that has been tied up by its bankruptcy proceedings.
Guthrie said she's had to spend more than $15,000 of her own money on lawyer fees and tests to determine the scope of the problem and try to get some help. She and her attorney both claim the state should have been more proactive in holding the company accountable and forcing a cleanup.
"The state was eager to exact a minuscule fine and applaud the efforts of (Collins and Aikman) as if they had done a great service to the town of Springfield and its land owners and leave the contaminants in the stream," Murphy wrote in an Oct. 27, 2005, complaint letter to TDEC Commissioner Jim Fyke.
"The question is, why. … It is exasperating to say the least for my client to watch while the state … leaves this matter unattended."
TDEC has been to the site several times since the spill to monitor, said Joey Holland, a manager of water pollution control in the agency's Nashville district.
Holland said the spill presents no danger to fish or humans. The material spilled, Acoustiflex, is a polyether polyolthat is not toxic and becomes less concentrated as time goes on, he said.
"I didn't take anybody's side other than the environment's," Holland said.
In his December 2005 answer to Guthrie's complaint, Fyke said the department may take enforcement action if any new evidence of a threat to human health or the environment is found, but he disputed claims the department didn't properly investigate or enforce the law.
TDEC spokeswoman Dana Coleman said Guthrie had 30 days to appeal the commissioner's decision and didn't. She said the department continues to send field agents to the site when Guthrie notifies them of a problem. The most recent sampling taken by TDEC was last week, but the results had not come back on Friday.
"They continue to call and express concern and we continue to go out and investigate," Coleman said."We're trying to be as responsive as we can be."
As for claims of property owners that there is still work to be done, the Troy, Mich.-based company's spokesman David Youngman said he is unaware of any issues.
The Springfield plant, which manufacturers sound insulation and other products for automobile interiors, is among dozens of plants the company operates in North America.
"We are of the understanding that the cleanup has been completed and we have not been informed of any new developments," Youngman said.
For now, the geese have started returning to the lake.
She and Coulombe are reminded of the spill when a heavy rain comes and the waters foam up. Guthrie said she doesn't know if the contaminated sediment from the creek will cause more damage to her lake, but the possibility concerns her.
"If there's a lot of that stuff in that sediment it could wash up and move," Guthrie said. "We don't know.
"We know they didn't finish the cleanup. It could be OK but then again it might not be OK."
Tennessean.com
