Riverkeeper Battles Big Developers in Nashville, TN

As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gets closer to formally regulating two well-known PFAS chemicals in drinking water – PFOA and PFOS – the agency has just finished taking comments on regulating seven additional PFAS chemicals, with an eye toward establishing Superfund cleanup sites where the chemicals are found.

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.

We’re proud to have Tennessee Riverkeeper as the beneficiary at the Orion Amphitheater shows this Summer in Huntsville, AL on July 11 and 12.

Plastics Flowing into Waterways

Tennessee Riverkeeper has issued a notice of intent to sue RR Farms Mass Grading, which locals have designated “Dirt Mountain” — a landfill operation on Ashland City Highway near Pecan Valley Road. The site is currently being used for construction material from the excavation of building sites around Nashville.

Littering on the roads is an eyesore for everyone, but when it's floating in our rivers and streams, it can be even worse.

Ascend Performance Materials on the Tennessee River manufactures intermediate chemicals for the production of nylon. The site receives acrylonitrile and converts it to adioponitrile and hexamethylene diamine which are transferred to other Ascend Facilities. Ascend Performance is among the worst toxic discharges in Alabama according to Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) data. This is a former Monsanto facility.

Read our Winter 2022/2023 Newsletter.

Let this be a wake up call to anyone who values the cleanliness of Huntsville’s waters: this past weekend, volunteers with Tennessee Riverkeeper and the Orion Amphitheater collected more than 1,700 pounds of trash from Pinhook Creek in Downtown Huntsville.

Exposure to a whole soup of toxic forever chemicals can disrupt biological processes in children and young adults in a way that puts them at risk from diseases like cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular ailments.

Nashville is breaking the law and putting your health at risk by violating the Clean Water Act. Fox 17 News and Tennessee Riverkeeper investigate sewage pollution and reveal the extent of long-standing problems including over-development, government failures, and pollution.

FOX 17 News' Meagan O’Halloran sits down with Tennessee Riverkeeper to investigate why Nashville and many other cities can’t seem to be able to fix public health concern related to drinking water contamination.

Since 2013, water utilities' testing has found pollutants in Americans' tap water, click here to explore drinking water quality analysis compiled from more than 31 million state water records.

Unknown to most Americans, our drinking water is widely contaminated. In fact, almost everywhere, there are some contaminants in the drinking water. There are up to 10.5 million lead service lines in this country feeding water into people’s homes.

3M Company announced that it will exit manufacturing of PFAS chemicals and work to discontinue use of PFAS in its products by the end of 2025.

Thanks to supporters like you, 2022 was one of Tennessee Riverkeeper’s most productive and successful years. What sets us apart from other organizations is that we are not afraid to tackle polluters head on. We have one of the most active environmental litigation programs in the United States. We have also continued to educate hundreds of thousands of citizens about water quality and the threats from pollution with our presence in the news media and our use of social media platforms. Your ongoing support is crucial for us to continue this work into 2023 and beyond.

Superfund is a U.S. program designed to investigate and clean up sites contaminated with hazardous waste. Sites managed under this program are referred to as “Superfund” sites. CERCLA, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, is the official name for the law establishing the federal Superfund program.

This September marks Tennessee Riverkeeper’s 13th anniversary. The organization was founded on the heels of the TVA discharging 1.1 billion gallons of toxic coal ash into tributaries of the Tennessee River in 2008.

Pesticide residues were detected in 59% of US food samples tested by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in its most recently completed annual testing program, the agency revealed in a new report.