My Story by Penny Dodson

This is how the disaster impacted our lives.....

I am a resident of the Swan Pond Community that has been directly affected by the disaster that left billions of gallons of coal waste in our community.

My grandson Evyn and I live just outside of the debris area. Evyn is 18 months old and is a Special Needs Child. Evyn was born prematurely and at birth he endured 25 minutes of CPR and other life saving measures. His team of doctors gave him no real chance of survival at that point. Evyn spent 6 weeks on a ventilator, and overcame the doctor's odds.

I was able to bring Evyn home to Swan Pond to live with me in September of 2007. Evyn has Cerebral Palsy, a Seizure disorder, asthma, allergies, digestive problems as well as other health issues.

On December 21, 2008 my family celebrated Christmas at my home that evening. I remember as each of my children and thier family left I told them to be careful & that I loved them.

My oldest son and his wife left my home about 11:45pm. They traveled down Swan Pond Circle, passing the Ash pond apparently just minutes before it failed, breaking apart and sending a 50 foot wave of water and chunks of ash and debris over the road, down the river and onto the land.

This event could have been more tragic. It could have taken lives. It could have taken my family.

On December 31, 2008 my grandson became very sick. He did not want to eat, sleep or play. His eyes were red and irritated and they watered almost continuosly. He coughed & sneezed. With each breath he wheezed more and more. As a nurse, I knew that I had done all I could and at the advise of his physician we went immediatly to East Tennessee Children's Hospital.

Once at the hospital, I explained to the practioners where we lived, what had happened at TVA and gave them all the information that I had gathered regarding Coal Waste/Fly Ash.

After a battery of tests, it was determined that Evyn was suffering the effects of the airborn fly ash. I was heartbroken. There were so many times that I was told we were safe, that there was no danger. I was mislead.

We have since been relocated to another area, but I still take every precaution to keep Evyn's exposure to the outside very limited. I still worry that he may become sick again.

Many other once healthy people in our community are also suffering from health problems including innocent children.

I strongly believe that Coal Waste/Fly Ash should be considered a hazardous waste and regulated. The components of the coal waste do contain heavy metals and when the Fly Ash dries it becomes a particulate/pollutant that is already heavily regulated by the EPA and is considered to have serious health impacts.

My goal in asking for regulation;
I don't want anyone else to have to experience this type of disaster in thier community, be misled into a false sence of security or fall victim to the health risks that coal waste/fly ash is currently imposing on our community.