田纳西谷管理局（Tennessee Valley Authority）预计，在其纳什维尔附近的坎伯兰河电厂发掘泄漏煤灰储藏池将花费约20亿美元。在8月4日的命令中，美国地方法院法官指示联邦电力生产商从多个未铺设的池塘中取出煤灰浆，以在垃圾填埋场的干燥储存中。

The utility estimates there are more than 10 million cu yd of the waste suspended in water at the Gallatin plant, said spokesman Scott Brooks. That is at least double the amount that was stored at its Kingston plant, which in 2008 spilled 5.4 million gallons of waste across farmland and into the Clinch River. While that spill was caused by an impoundment collapse, Gallatin ponds currently are leaking into the groundwater and flowing to the river through the limestone and karst terrain that underlies them. Between 1970 and 1978, about 27 billion gallons of wastewater flowed from the karst aquifer to the river, the order noted. The first of the 976-MW plant’s four units was built in 1953.

法院裁定，如果可以追溯到与河流的水文联系，则可以根据排放到地下水采取未经授权的排放措施。TVA认为尚未确定特定的污水坑或其他连接的喀斯特特征，但法官韦弗利·克伦肖（Waverly Crenshaw）说，它们被厚厚的煤灰所掩盖。他说：“虽然通过撤职的关闭负担可能很大，但这是唯一可以解决不合时宜的情况，这种情况已经持续了很长时间。”

TVA prefers to cap the waste in place, Brooks said. Crenshaw said the consequences of a past decision to build the pond on karst terrain should not be addressed by covering them “but to pull them up by their roots.” The ponds are “reasonably likely to continue discharging pollutants,” the order said. Two state environmental groups in 2014 sued, claiming TVA violated the U.S. Clean Water Act. A trial is set for early this year. TVA has not decided whether to appeal the ruling.

In another coal-ash-storage ruling involving pollution through hydrological groundwater connections, a Virginia federal district court on Aug. 3 held that utility Duke Energy had attempted to preempt a citizens’ lawsuit alleging violations at its Roxboro, N.C., plant by seeking a venue change to its northern neighbor.

罗阿诺克河流域协会在三月份通知杜克大学，该协会将在北卡罗来纳州的联邦法院提起诉讼。在合法提交的两天之前，杜克要求弗吉尼亚法院驳回此案。法院在其裁决中说，杜克大学从事“论坛购物”，并指出，根据美国清洁水法，该文件必须在发生违法行为的地点。一位女发言人说，杜克（Duke）想要在弗吉尼亚州听到的诉讼，因为该诉讼也是由一个州组织提起的，该诉讼引用了弗吉尼亚河流的风险。

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is reviewing a 2015 coal-ash disposal rule that requires utilities to decide by October whether to clean out coal-ash ponds or cap them, with required monitoring. Advocacy group Earthjustice challenged EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s decision to order that review.