FPC Litigation Group attorneys Jeff Friedman and Matt Conn represented hundreds of property owners harmed by the largest coal ash spill disaster in U.S. history. On December 22, 2008, more than a billion gallons of coal ash slurry spilled when a dike burst on a retention pond at the Kingston Fossil Plant operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (“TVA”) in Kingston, Tennessee. Massive amounts of coal ash sludge traveled across the Emory River and into the Watts Bar Reservoir, polluting the rivers and nearby waterways and covering over 300 acres with toxic coal ash sludge. The tidal wave from the spill was so powerful it pushed homes off their foundations and damaged hundreds of surrounding properties.
FPC litigated this case against the nation’s largest public utility for over four (4) years, culminating in a 7-week liability trial that was conducted in late 2011. In August 2012, the presiding judge, Judge Thomas Varlan, found in favor of plaintiffs on their claims of negligence, trespass, and private nuisance. TVA maintained throughout the litigation that its conduct was discretionary and that it could not be held accountable for its actions, due to its limited governmental immunity. However, the Court disagreed and ruled that “TVA’s conduct in regard to its mandatory policies, procedures, and practices for coal ash management compounded the location, design, and operation causes [for the dike failure] and had TVA followed its own mandatory policies, procedures, and practices, the subsurface issues underlying the failure to the North Dike would have been investigated, addressed, and potentially remedied before the catastrophic failure of December 22, 2008.” This was the first time in TVA’s history that its governmental immunity was pierced. FPC attorney Jeff Friedman served as lead trial counsel for the plaintiffs in the liability trial. FPC attorney Matt Conn served as co-lead trial counsel.
After the liability decision was rendered, Judge Varlan ordered the parties to mediate the case. Months later, after a hard-fought mediation, the case was settled for $27.8 Million Dollars. To read more about the liability decision, please see the reported decision: In re TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY ASH SPILL LITIGATION, 2012 WL 3647704.
