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Al Gore: Your Heroic TVA Watchdogs Are Being Arrested
Matt Landon deserves a Medal of Honor. He's a modern day Tennessee Volunteer and American hero.
After a billion of gallons of toxic coal sludge broke through the TVA coal ash pond on December 22, he and the United Mountain Defense non-profit organization have worked full-time through the holidays and winter to deliver aid and water, assist the affected residents, collect data and provide professional air and water monitoring. National and international media have relied on Landon's dogged and insightful reporting behind the scenes. Landon has given tours to untold numbers of legal and legislative aides, including Robert C. Tanner, the Majority Senior Investigator for the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works.
Considering the gross negligence of the TVA, and the whopping $825 million bill for clean up costs, you would think the TVA had enough sense to recognize Landon's and UMD's important role and accept their help.
Instead, the TVA police have not stopped harassing, detaining and arresting Landon and other members of the United Mountain Defense.
Amazingly, Landon was arrested again yesterday for giving a ride home to an elderly disabled Swan Pond resident, Eva Hewitt. The two were returning from the Tennessee Environmental and Conservation public meeting held earlier that day where Eva was one of several community members who spoke at a citizen's press conference about health concerns relating to the TVA disaster. Eva is blind in one eye and does not drive so Matt was returning her to her home on South Swan Pond Road.
Eva said "It's a shame they arrested him when he was just trying to help me out and give me a ride home."
"I feel that arresting me today is just a continuation of the ongoing harassment I have experienced from the TVA police," Landon said. "TVA has tried to prevent United Mountain Defense from conducting independent water testing, deploying independent air monitoring, delivering bottled water to locals and working with the community of Roane County and they have consistently harassed me while doing this work. The citizens of Roane County deserve more from TVA and I do not plan on abandoning them in this time of need. "
Three days ago, two other United Mountain Defense volunteers were detained by cigar-chomping TVA police that would have made Bull Connor, the police scourge of the Civil Rights Movement, proud. The TVA police arrested volunteers for setting up independent air quality monitoring stations. The monitoring program was initiated in response to complaints by local residents of worsening respiratory problems since the disaster and UMD's discovery that TVA's air testing is inadequate.
For the latest updates on the continuing scandal of the TVA coal ash disaster, visit:
http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com/
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Evidently these TVA security guards are poorly-trained and use bad judgement in dealing with the public.
I guess they havent gotten enough bad publicity already with the 1 billion gallon toxic waste spill.
The ones who should be in jail are the TVA manages who allowed this pond to fail.
It's gonna take some shoveling to clean up the last eight years.
On no!
He might have taken an unauthorized air sample? Quick, that might endanger someone or something...
Please, he is kid, doing his best to help lots of folks in this area that are living, breathing, and bathing with a toxic catastrophe/crises.
These officers should let the public in on any money under the table; go ahead blow the whistle because we all can see the writing on the wall.
If I write what is coming to mind, it won't get posted.
Wow. Once again, cops who are sworn to uphold the law, are nothing but thugs on the take protecting dirty white collar criminals. Pathetic it's gotten this far.
Although sympathetic to this cause, I would like to see better reporting with better sourcing.
Obviously, the authorities do not want the conditions that will be affecting the health of the unfortunate residents for many, many years to come to be documented. The misery and pain that the locals there have to deal with, which is the direct result of incompetence of some with the TVA, is almost beyond comprehension, and so they do not want the evidence easily collected to be made known to the rest of the world.
World, take notice of what is happening here and who is responsible!
When was he arrested the first time???
Amazingly, Landon was arrested again yesterday for giving a ride home to an elderly disabled Swan Pond resident, Eva Hewitt.
Lets tell the whole truth, they mounted the air sample box to the TVA electric companies pole, it is illegal to do that. They made them take it down. End of story.
I can't believe someone was arrested for setting up an air sample station like the paragraph says inbetween the videos because the video never says anyone was arrested. Oh and the paragraph says the cop was a TVA officer, but the video says he was a county cop. I wonder if the cop wanted he drivers license since he saw him driving?
What country is this? What sort of fascist world is going on down there? That poor kid. There is no law saying a person has to carry a driver's license, period. That cop should be fired. He is a danger to society.
There is if the cop saw him driving or behind the wheel.
The coal industry is gearing up for a fight. They're just as bad as B.oil.
"gearing up?" come on, the coal industry has been bullying the folks of this area for decades.
THis is a tired old story and what's sad is that often, resdients will defend the coal co to the end as they are the sole providers of livelihood.
It's going to take quite a movement to undo this problem.
Send in the IRS after the top cats in the PD; I'll bet there's some payoff going on. Let's push for harassment of the harassers! Legally, of course!
The FBI should be investigating these arrests, as well as the ACLU.
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We have police protecting government polluters. The person responsible directing the police to carry out these bogus arrests needs to locked up and have the keys thrown away. This America, not Russia.
It must be a left over policy of Bush/Cheney and Company.
The TVA has it's own police?
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