TENNESSEE RIVERKEEPER SUES DEVELOPER SKY NASHVILLE FOR WATER POLLUTION FROM CONSTRUCTION
NASHVILLE, TN — Tennessee Riverkeeper filed suit in federal court against the owner and operator of Sky Nashville, a large development located on a steep hill overlooking the city from the west at the junction of I-40 and I-440, north of Charlotte Avenue. The construction site, and pond of muddy water regularly flooding Delaware Avenue can be seen adjacent to the east bound lanes of the interstate.
Sediment poses a risk to water quality because it often carries other pollutants, such as nutrients, heavy metals, organic chemicals, and bacteria. These pollutants also diminish recreational value of streams that flow through parks and into rivers. Additionally, the cost of treating a source of drinking water with high levels of sediment is greater than the costs to treat clearer, cleaner water.
Sediment can also blanket the stream bed in a process called sedimentation. Over time, this process of mud building up on the stream bottom can reduce viable habitat for aquatic insects, fish, amphibians, and other wildlife by clogging the spaces between larger gravel, cobble, and boulders.
“Developments are profitable, they do not need government subsidies, and they certainly do not deserve a pass from complying with the law. And in this case the pollution is running through a park amid public housing, impacting a disadvantaged population that typically cannot take on such an issue,”said David Whiteside, Executive Director of Tennessee Riverkeeper.
Construction at the site started before erosion controls were put in place, and what controls have since been installed are obviously inadequate as shown by documentation of extremely muddy water leaving the site in even moderate rains, flooding the street, emerging in neighbors’ yards and foundation, and creating a graphic visible contrast in the receiving stream of Phillips Branch. This stream flows through what was once the farm of Benjaman Phillips, an early settler of Nashville and part and of a family that moved here from North Carolina in the 1700s. A descendent of the family assisted Riverkeeper in researching the history of the area and uncovering the true name of the stream that had largely been lost to time.
Tennessee Riverkeeper is seeking the installation of adequate control measures on the site to stop the severe flows of muddy water from the site, and a cessation of all other activities at the site until it is under control. We are also asking the federal court to impose a meaningful stormwater permit on the operation with measurable and enforceable limitations, and to impose significant penalties for the violations, damage to the environment and public, and to offset the costs saved by the lack of controls employed to date.
“Developers in Nashville continue to abuse the system by polluting communities and skirting laws to increase their profits,” added David Whiteside, of nonprofit Tennessee Riverkeeper.