John Taylor
ALEC 440
November 14, 2014
Save the Nolichucky from U.S Nitrogen Imagine living on a magnificent river your entire life; not only living on the river, but relying on that river for your livelihood. Now, imagine that magnificent rive being threatened by pollutants,that is what the citizens of the area surrounding the Nolichucky River are facing as we speak. Those citizens depend on the river for drinking water, irrigation and sustainment of their livestock; not to mention the delicately balanced ecosystem. Ihwever,in recent months, water quality in the Nolichucky River has been under attack by U.S. Nitrogen to be used as a dumping ground for industrial waste. One of the methods to try and control the amount of pollution released …show more content…
Greene County native and co-founder of the Save the Nolichucky initiative, Alex Martin is concerned that “the water that they’ll be dumping back into the river not only is going to contain toxins, even though they say minuscule amounts, it is still going to be environmentally damaging to the area.” Furthermore, residents of the Cocke County side of the river do not have access to municipal water and fear that their wells may be contaminated by the dangerous chemicals (Strayer, 2014). "When they get that facility running, I'd like to see them bring a big jug of that water right down to my front porch and set it on my kitchen table and then I'd like to see them drink it," said Martin. The company claims that the water it returns to the river is unchanged from what it drew in. They also say they ensure the quality and safety of the plant and products they produce and stress that the chemicals made, like ammonium nitrate, are not harmful on their own (Good, 2014). However, convincing the people who live along this river might not be so …show more content…
It has been reported that rigorous permitting processes through the TDEC, the TDOT, TVA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, demonstrates that the nitrogen plant has engineered solutions that will allow their facility to operate at its highest function while having insignificant affects on the river or the environment (Willett, 2014). For members of Greene County and their neighbors, these “engineered solutions” provide little comfort. Despite community blow back US Nitrogen and TDEC officials have maintained that the plant will not damage the ecosystem nearby or down
ALEC 440
November 14, 2014
Save the Nolichucky from U.S Nitrogen Imagine living on a magnificent river your entire life; not only living on the river, but relying on that river for your livelihood. Now, imagine that magnificent rive being threatened by pollutants,that is what the citizens of the area surrounding the Nolichucky River are facing as we speak. Those citizens depend on the river for drinking water, irrigation and sustainment of their livestock; not to mention the delicately balanced ecosystem. Ihwever,in recent months, water quality in the Nolichucky River has been under attack by U.S. Nitrogen to be used as a dumping ground for industrial waste. One of the methods to try and control the amount of pollution released …show more content…
Greene County native and co-founder of the Save the Nolichucky initiative, Alex Martin is concerned that “the water that they’ll be dumping back into the river not only is going to contain toxins, even though they say minuscule amounts, it is still going to be environmentally damaging to the area.” Furthermore, residents of the Cocke County side of the river do not have access to municipal water and fear that their wells may be contaminated by the dangerous chemicals (Strayer, 2014). "When they get that facility running, I'd like to see them bring a big jug of that water right down to my front porch and set it on my kitchen table and then I'd like to see them drink it," said Martin. The company claims that the water it returns to the river is unchanged from what it drew in. They also say they ensure the quality and safety of the plant and products they produce and stress that the chemicals made, like ammonium nitrate, are not harmful on their own (Good, 2014). However, convincing the people who live along this river might not be so …show more content…
It has been reported that rigorous permitting processes through the TDEC, the TDOT, TVA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, demonstrates that the nitrogen plant has engineered solutions that will allow their facility to operate at its highest function while having insignificant affects on the river or the environment (Willett, 2014). For members of Greene County and their neighbors, these “engineered solutions” provide little comfort. Despite community blow back US Nitrogen and TDEC officials have maintained that the plant will not damage the ecosystem nearby or down