TVA Plant Manager Earl Deskins Wins Environmental Excellence Award
October 29, 2004
KINGSTON, Tenn. – Kingston Fossil Plant Manager Earl Deskins has won a TVA Environmental Excellence Award for his leadership within TVA for management commitment.
Deskins, a four-year employee and Kingston resident, was selected for his outstanding leadership at the plant, where he oversees 249 employees. As plant manager, his commitment to environmental management helped the plant achieve significant reductions in the number of times the plant exceeded opacity requirements. Opacity is a measure of the transparency of the gases leaving the stack.
Among the initiatives that Deskins established for the plant include principles for decision making called Prime Directives, an annual drill involving the plant emergency responders and all community emergency services, and High Impact Teams, which help identify potential problems that may occur as a result of a plant outage. Deskins also developed a weekly newsletter for the plant and holds regular meetings for all plant personnel.
Deskins is involved in the local community – working with the Roane County Local Emergency Planning Commission to foster a positive relationship between the plant and the local community. He is active with the Roane County Chamber of Commerce to help Kingston Fossil Plant remain an active, responsible and responsive member of the community.
“Earl has championed and facilitated process and technology changes at Kingston that demonstrate his leadership and commitment to environmental excellence,” said TVA Environmental Executive Kate Jackson.
TVA Environmental Excellence Awards are presented annually to a TVA individual, team, site, facility or organization that has demonstrated exemplary environmental performance in support of one of TVA’s six environmental principles. Those principles are: management commitment; environmental protection and stewardship; environmental compliance; pollution prevention; partnerships/public involvement; and innovation and technology.
All award winners received certificates and a framed print depicting the Tennessee Valley environment.
TVA is the nation’s largest public power provider and is completely self-financed. TVA provides power to large industries and 158 power distributors that serve approximately 8.5 million consumers in seven southeastern states. TVA also manages the Tennessee River and its tributaries to provide multiple benefits, including flood control, navigation, water quality and recreation
Media Contact:
Michelle Chang Sherrard
TVA News Bureau, Knoxville, (865) 632-6000
