TVA to Hold Spill Response Exercise at Johnsonville Fossil Plant
April 23, 2003
NEW JOHNSONVILLE, Tenn. – TVA will conduct a training exercise involving TVA boats and spill response equipment on Kentucky Reservoir at Johnsonville Fossil Plant on Thursday, April 24.
Using a computer model, TVA will simulate an oil spill at Johnsonville under the National Preparedness for Response Exercise Program. TVA Police and the TVA Environmental Response Team will deploy boats and an oil containment boom, which is used to contain a spill on the water. Equipment trailers and other vehicles will be staged at various boat ramps in the Johnsonville area.
Nothing will actually be put into the water for the drill. The spill is modeled on a computer, and the data simulates where and how fast the oil would travel. The computer modeling takes into account the river surface currents and wind, and it can closely depict simulated oil movement for the exercise.
TVA is required by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to conduct similar drills every year. Drills are conducted at TVA’s six combustion turbine generating sites, which use and store more than one million gallons of fuel oil.
In addition to TVA’s Incident Management Team, the drill will involve the U. S. Coast Guard, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, and other members of the emergency response community. The exercise is expected to last all day.
TVA is the nation’s largest public power producer, and is completely self-financed. TVA provides power to large industries and 158 power distributors that serve 8.3 million consumers in seven southeastern states.
Media Contact:
Michelle Chang, Knoxville (865-632-8108) or TVA News Bureau, Knoxville (865-632-6000)
