After Giles County citizens were informed in August of a plan by American Electric Power to construct a Coal Combustion Byproduct disposal site on the banks of the New River in Narrows, many were moved to organize in protest against the construction. Concerns arise because the proposed construction site lies on a floodplain called Cumberland Park, and in such an area protesters say that there is a risk of heavy metals and other potential hazardous materials to leach into the groundwater or otherwise enter the river in the event of any sort of failure at the dumpsite.

After an Oct. 9 meeting between the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Giles County Board of Supervisors, opponents of the Cumberland Park Project created a Web site that they hope will inform the community of the potential dangers of such a dump site. Time is certainly of the essence for these citizens to raise their concerns as the DEQ is tentatively set to approve the American Electric Power permit on Oct. 25.

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts in 2006 identified American Electric Power as the 35th- largest corporate producer of air pollution in the United States and the Environmental Protection Agency has named American Electric as a potentially responsible party at the Green River Disposal Inc. Superfund toxic waste site in Kentucky. And just this month, in the largest environmental settlement in Justice Department history, AEP agreed to install $4.6 billion in equipment to reduce emissions at coal-fired plants in addition to paying a $15 million civil fine to the federal government and spending $60 million on “mitigation measures” such as the cleanup and repair of
damaged lands. Visit the new Web site that is tracking the latest developments with the Cumberland Park Project.