Trial Starts on Damage Lawsuits in TVA Ash Spill

The first federal trial on lawsuits seeking damages from the Tennessee Valley Authority’s huge coal ash spill is set to start.

A bench trial on six lawsuits starts Thursday before U.S. District Judge Thomas Varlan in Knoxville.

The lawsuits seek damages from a Dec. 22, 2008, TVA dam collapse that spilled 5.4 million cubic yards of sludge. The spill ruptured a natural gas line, disrupted power and transportation, ruined three homes and forced a nearby residential community on the Emory River to evacuate.

The lawsuits contend the nation’s largest public utility was negligent in constructing, maintaining and inspecting the earthen dam at the coal-fired Kingston Plant.

Other lawsuits are set for trial in November.

Hundreds of people who feel the spill cost them have stakes in the court fight.