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EarthSolidarity!™ Initiatives are endeavors to which anyone can contribute in deed as well as in spirit, that
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Maryville College professor’s podcast highlights how the present is weirder than the past
Written by Robert Norris
“Historical research brings all kinds of insight into who we are in the present day as a species.”
MARYVILLE — Ever wonder how human society and culture blossomed into what it is today?
In his new podcast, “You Are a Weirdo,” historian and Maryville College professor Doug Sofer aims to help people learn just how far we’ve come as a species by embracing how the “strangeness” of the present day would be considered even more vastly weird by the historical standards of the past.
“Real history is a process of interpretation — of understanding the past based on evidence” Sofer said. “Good history is equally immersive; it gets you out of your skin.”
So far, Sofer has immersed his audience in interpreting and understanding topics ranging from why tea is considered a distinctly British beverage, despite being grown in Asia, to why jokes have a short shelf life depending on the decade they are told.
Regardless of each episode’s topic, Sofer finds history to be “the study of human possibilities.” Sofer wants people to learn “that real, legit historical research brings all kinds of insight into who we are in the present day as a species.”
Harbingers of spring emerge. Keep faith in the wildflowers.
Written by Shelby Lyn Sanders
Virginia beauty (Claytonia virginica) blooming in the woods reminds us winter is spinning away. Shelby Lyn Sanders
First probing plants and flowers are a sign that winter always ends
There are few who would count winter as their favored time of year, and it is true that one must look harder to find the beauty in a landscape that by all accounts appears forlorn and void of life. But with about a month until the calendar tells us that it is officially spring, winter’s grip is yielding to renewal. It is a time of year that quickens the heartbeat of every naturalist.
The calls of golden-crowned kinglets begin to intermingle with those of the spring peepers, a frog so tiny that it is hard to imagine them capable of such emphatic emissions of sound, and last year’s marcescent American beech leaves preside over persistent, unfurling green lives that would be missed were it not for a careful eye and a curious heart.
The wait has been long, but worth it. With the first sighting of a blooming Virginia spring beauty, the ephemeral wildflower season begins, marking the start of another growing season, another months-long love story spent in awe of nature until the last asters of fall have gone to seed.
For every thing there is a season, and for lovers of the wild, that season is all of them.
A bloodroot (Sangiuinaria canadensis) bloom is seen here in Norris Dam State Park on Feb. 19. John Johnson
Infamous South Knoxville Superfund site will soon take first steps on long road to recovery
Written by Ben Pounds
A sign warns against entry to the Smokey Mountain Smelters Superfund site off Maryville Pike in the Vestal community of Knoxville. Heather Duncan Nelson/Hellbender Press
EPA plans to contain toxic waste and restore waterways; community group will offer guidance
KNOXVILLE — A crowd gathered in the South Knoxville Community Center to hear the Environmental Protection Agency’s long-awaited remediation plan for Smoky Mountain Smelting and its hazardous waste. Others tuned in via the Internet.
The meeting called by Vestal Community Organization took place Feb. 13. The EPA’s presentation and many questions focused on the former Smoky Mountain Smelting site at 1508 Maryville Pike near Montgomery Village Apartments.
Heather Duncan Nelson reported last year for Hellbender Press on the initial cleanup plans.
But citizens this week raised concerns about other contaminated former industrial properties along the same road. Vestal Community Organization plans to hold another meeting at 6 p.m. Feb. 22 to discuss and decide its position on these Maryville Pike properties.
“I was just thrilled and enamored by the way people were listening to the questions and answers,” said Eric Johnson with Vestal Community Organization, adding that he was referring both to the EPA and the citizens.
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‘Egregious’ abuse of power: Judge slams TWRA falcon seizure and owner’s prosecution
Written by Anita Wadhwani
Lamar bestows a kiss on one of her raptors. John Partipilo via Tennessee Lookout
Judge rules that Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency grossly overstepped its bounds following citizen complaint
This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout.
NASHVILLE — Holly Lamar, a master falconer and owner of a Nashville “bird experience” business, has a story to tell about each one of her 13 captive-bred birds of prey.
The story behind Faith, a 7-year-old peregrine falcon, is tied to a particularly rough patch for Lamar, who experienced success as a Grammy-nominated songwriter, then lost nearly everything. The 20-day-old chick arrived just after Lamar fell victim to a financial scam that wiped out earnings from her music career.
She picked the name “Faith” to symbolize the feelings of trust she was trying to regain in her life — and as a nod to Faith Hill, the country singer who recorded “Breathe,” a 1999 megahit co-written by Lamar.
Faith, the falcon, is now dead — one of 13 falcons seized by officers with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency in a sweeping August search of Lamar’s home and property that a Nashville judge later characterized as “egregious,” an “abuse of the law” and a violation of Lamar’s constitutional rights.
Government Accountability Office: TVA lagging in climate change adjustments
Written by Adam Goldstein
TVA service area and power generation assets. Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) | GAO-23-105375
GAO report concludes TVA is flat-footed on climate-change risks to infrastructure
This story was originally published by Tennessee Lookout.
WASHINGTON — Extreme weather patterns have sparked several improvements to the climate resiliency of Tennessee Valley Authority electrical infrastructure over the past two decades.
A report from a government watchdog, however, found the huge utility still has work to do in mitigating climate hazards to the regional power grid. (Bitter cold around Christmas led TVA to implement rolling blackouts).
“TVA has taken several steps to manage climate-related risks,” the Jan. 30 report from the Government Accountability Office said. “However, TVA has not conducted an inventory of assets and operations vulnerable to climate change, or developed a resilience plan that identifies and prioritizes resilience measures to address specific risks.”
One issue: The Southeast has experienced a period of accelerated warming since the 1960s. Among cities in the region, 61 percent are experiencing worsening heat waves, a percentage greater than anywhere else in the country, according to the GAO.
The report came in response to a five-part joint request for information on the climate resiliency of U.S. infrastructure, from U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Environment and Public Works Committee Chair Tom Carper of Delaware. The two Democrats sent their request to the GAO on May 13, 2019.
Feds seek comment on proposed nuclear-fuel site in Oak Ridge
Written by Ben PoundsOAK RIDGE — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking public input on the scope of its environmental review of TRISO-X LLC’s proposed nuclear fuel fabrication facility to be built in Oak Ridge (as reported by Hellbender Press already last April in the context of the decade-long struggle to prevent environmental damages from a proposed power line that would also have degraded the recreational experience of the North Boundary Greenway).
Comments are due Feb. 14. TRISO-X has proposed the facility for the Horizon Center on the western side of Oak Ridge. The company, a wholly owned subsidiary of X-Energy LLC, has applied for a license to construct and operate the facility to manufacture high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel for advanced reactors. Along with a safety and technical review, the NRC staff will develop an environmental impact statement to analyze the proposed facility’s potential impacts.
See the TRISO-X review, as well as non-sensitive parts of the license application, on the NRC website. A notice of intent to develop an environmental impact statement was published Dec. 16 in the Federal Register.
Related article: Oak Ridge environmentalists successfully lobbied to reroute intrusive power lines
Oak Ridge environmentalists successfully lobbied to reroute intrusive power lines
Written by Ben Pounds
This map shows several of the various options that were proposed over the years for a new power line to the Horizon Center. Options numbered 1 here would have severely impacted the North Boundary Greenway. Options 1 and 2 also would have diminished the ecologic values of the Black Oak Ridge Conservation Easement. The now authorized option 5 will tap into the existing 161 kilovolt TVA power line at a new substation to be built on the south-east side of Oak Ridge Turnpike (TN-95). City of Oak Ridge Electric Department
Conversations, letters, alliances and action prompted electrifying win for East Tennessee citizens
OAK RIDGE — After a grassroots citizen effort highlighted the fact new electric lines would mar habitat and popular hiking trails, the city plans to put them elsewhere.
The move came after objections raised by East Tennessee environmental groups, previously reported by Hellbender Press, to protect the land along the North Boundary Greenway, a wide gravel path used by hikers and cyclists. The new route goes down Novus Drive’s median, starting south of State Route 95.
Contractors aren’t done building the Novus Drive route, but city staff made the new route clear in December when asking for funding. Oak Ridge City manager Mark Watson stated the new lines and substation need to be ready for the proposed TRISO-X nuclear fuel facility by December 2024.
Obsolescence meets absurdity in parking-garage design debates
Written by Kevin J. Krizek and John Hersey
The Pryor Brown Transfer Company and garage is shown in 1936 on West Church Avenue in downtown Knoxville. Established in 1929, it is reputedly the first full-service parking garage in the U.S., and now faces demolition after years of neglect and disuse. Thompson Photograph Collection, McClung Historical Collection
Wasted space or community asset? As urban space dwindles, debate gears up over utility of parking garages
This story was originally published by The Conversation. Kevin J. Krizek is professor of environmental design at University of Colorado Boulder. John Hersey is a teaching assistant professor of environmental design at University of Colorado Boulder.
For the past century, the public and private sectors appear to have agreed on one thing: the more parking, the better.
As a result, cities were built up in ways that devoted valuable space to storing cars, did little to accommodate people who don’t own cars and forced developers to build expensive parking structures that increased the cost of living.
Two assumptions undergird urban parking policy: Without convenient parking, car owners would be reluctant to patronize businesses; and absent a dedicated parking spot for their vehicle, they’d be less likely to rent and buy homes. Because parcels of urban land are usually small and pricey, developers will build multistory garages. And so today, a glut of these bulky concrete boxes clutter America’s densely populated cities.
We have been studying urban development and parking for decades. The car’s grip over city planning has been difficult to dislodge, despite a host of costs to the environment and to the quality of life for many city dwellers.
Potentially toxic Oak Ridge landfill won’t be built until cleared by operator’s water research
Written by Ben Pounds
Potential water runoff issues stall future Oak Ridge landfill construction
OAK RIDGE — A landfill intended to hold potentially toxic debris from the demolition of legacy Oak Ridge research facilities is moving forward but construction won’t start until it is definitively determined whether the site could pollute ground and surface water.
As reported previously by Hellbenderpress, environmentalists fear toxins leaking out of the proposed landfill could contaminate waterways and make their way into fish that people might catch downstream. The landfill’s contractor, however, said leaving buildings full of toxic residue standing may be more dangerous for workers and nearby residents and the landfill will help get the buildings quickly demolished. The contractor is doing a mock-up study this year to see how best to handle water issues on the future landfill site.
This summer, the contractor United Cleanup Oak Ridge LLC will choose a subcontractor and do field work. Ben Williams, the Department of Energy’s public affairs specialist, said roads and utilities will need to move to get the site ready at that time. But UCOR stated it won’t build the landfill until after a water study spanning “two wet seasons,” beginning later this year.
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Migrating sandhill cranes descend on Southeast
Written by Ray Zimmerman
During winter migration, visitors to Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge can view thousands of greater sandhill cranes. Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency via Appalachian Voices
Beyond festivals, sandhill cranes pass through Southeast in increasing numbers
BIRCHWOOD — Every year in mid-January, a few thousand people gather here for The Sandhill Crane Festival because the cranes have returned. The community center at Birchwood is filled with vendors selling wildlife art or promoting conservation. The nearby Cherokee Removal Memorial at Blythe Ferry offers a chance to celebrate Cherokee culture and learn the story of indigenous people who were taken from their homes and sent on a long journey to Oklahoma.
Meanwhile, there are opportunities to see and appreciate these amazing birds through February in East Tennessee and beyond.
At least 20,000 cranes gather or pass through Hiwassee Wildlife Refuge, having come from their nesting grounds in southern Canada and the upper Midwest to winter here in the American South. Many spend the winter there, but some will continue southward to Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia and the Gulf Coast.
East Tennessee SPJ chapter plans roundtable with state legislators
Written by Thomas FraserKNOXVILLE — The East Tennessee Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists once again will partner with the League of Women Voters Knoxville/Knox County to hold the annual legislative forum of the Knox County delegation.
The date is Saturday, Jan. 28, from 9-10:30 a.m. at the East Tennessee History Center, 601 S. Gay St., in downtown Knoxville. Jesse Mayshark, an ETSPJ board member and co-founder of Compass Knox, will serve as moderator.
Hellbender Press readers are encouraged to submit possible environment-related questions for the legislators to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Coffee and breakfast bagels and pastries will be available at 8:30 a.m. and are free while they last. The event is open to the public, and the wearing of masks is optional.
— East Tennessee Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists
Mad about saffron: Cardinals of color fly through Appalachian winter
Written by Stephen Lyn Bales
A rare yellow cardinal is seen at a residence in Roane County this winter. Catherine Reddick
As yellow cardinals proliferate, are we watching evolution unfold in real time?
HARRIMAN — During the pandemic, when isolating at home became a necessity, birdwatching and bird feeders soared in popularity. Watching our avian friends come and go is entertaining, and sometimes quite surprising.
When it comes to songbirds, especially at this time of year, the northern cardinal is perhaps the most recognized and beloved.
It is the state bird of no less than seven states: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia.
It’s also the nickname of more sports teams than any other icon. There are the St. Louis Cardinals in baseball, and the Arizona Cardinals in professional football. In the NCAA, there are the Louisville Cardinals and 17 other colleges that sport the red mascot, as well as a gaggle of high school teams across the country.
Since we were children, we have all known what a male northern cardinal looks like. He’s bright red. Right? Yes, unless he’s bright yellow!
Finding a golden treasure usually requires a long arduous quest through terra incognito.
Water and waste on TVA agenda as utility plans Bull Run shutdown
Written by Ben Pounds
Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton, Tennessee, was originally commissioned 55 years ago but TVA is now soliciting public input on the best way to shut down operations. Tennessee Valley Authority
TVA solicits public input following release of environmental assessment for Bull Run Fossil Plant decommission
CLAXTON — Tennessee Valley Authority plans to close its Bull Run Fossil Plant (BRF) in Anderson County, but it’s still looking for public input on what comes next.
“As a large, inflexible coal unit with medium operating costs and a high forced outage rate, BRF does not fit current and likely future portfolio needs,” the federal utility said in a draft Environmental Assessment.
TVA is looking at three different options for the future of the structures still standing on the site by the Clinch River near Oak Ridge: taking down all structures; taking down some of them; or leaving everything standing. A recent report lays out the environmental consequences of each of these actions. The report, in draft form, is against that third choice, listing it as only an option for the sake of comparison.
“If the facility is left in the “as-is” condition, it likely would present a higher risk than Alternatives A or B for the potential to contaminate soil and groundwater as systems and structures degrade. As such, this alternative is not a reasonable alternative,” the draft states.
TVA stated its considering removing “all or most of the buildings and structures” on a 250-acre area. After closing the plant, but before any demolitions, TVA will begin by removing components that may be used at other TVA sites, draining of oil and fluids from equipment, taking ash out of the boilers, removing information technology assets, removing plant records and other tasks.
The Bull Run Environmental Assessment is 170 pages long and available for public review. It doesn’t directly tackle the coal ash storage conundrum that has grabbed the attention of politicians, nearby residents and environmental activists, because that issue involves separate regulations.
The electric-vehicle revolution brings environmental uncertainty at every turn
Written by Tim Lydon
As demand for electric vehicles soars, several roadblocks have emerged
This article was originally published by The Revelator.
Manufacturers, governments and consumers are lining up behind electric vehicles — with sales rising 60% in 2022, and at least 17 states are considering a California-style ban on gas cars in the years ahead. Scientists say the trend is a key part of driving down the transportation sector’s carbon emissions, which could fall by as much as 80% by 2050 under aggressive policies. But while EVs are cleaner than gas cars in the long run, they still carry environmental and human-rights baggage, especially associated with mining.
“If you want a lot of EVs, you need to get minerals out of the ground,” says Ian Lange, director of the Energy and Economics Program at the Colorado School of Mines.
Ahead of retiring Bull Run Fossil Plant, TVA faces questions about the site’s toxicity
Written by Ben Pounds
CLAXTON — Even though TVA is about to retire Bull Run Fossil Plant, water pollution issues related to it are still up for debate.
A water discharge permit hearing took place Thursday, Jan. 12 at the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation building, 761 Emory Valley Road in Oak Ridge.
If you missed the meeting, you can still provide comments by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. through Thursday, Jan. 26.
The permit would, if approved, allow releases of “cooling water, process wastewater and storm water runoff” from Bull Run Fossil Plant into the Clinch River and operation of a cooling water intake system. Environmental groups have concerns.
Tennessee Valley Authority plans to retire Bull Run Fossil plant by 2023. Over several years and at meetings, both connected to TVA and organized by activist groups, citizens have voiced concerns about water quality issues due to the continued coal ash waste TVA stores on the site. In advance of this meeting, representatives of the Sierra Club, Southern Environmental Law Center, Appalachian Voices, Statewide Coalition for Community eMpowerment and Center for Biological Diversity all signed a letter asking for TDEC to set standards for water pollution from coal ash based on available technology.
This story will be updated.
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Hellbent Profile: Amber Parker brings nature to the people
Written by JJ Stambaugh
Ijams Nature Center Executive Director Amber Parker poses with opossum Opal. She was an Ijams animal ambassador for more than three years. “She came to us after her mother was hit by a car and Opal would fit in the palm of your hand. Sadly, Opal passed away earlier this year. Opossums live short lives, usually about three years, so Opal had a nice long one by opossum standards. She was beloved by all and we miss her.” Courtesy Ijams Nature Center
Each year more than 600,000 people visit Ijams Nature Center
This is the second installment of an occasional series, Hellbent, profiling citizens who work to preserve and improve the Southern Appalachian environment.
KNOXVILLE — On any given day, the parking lot at Ijams Nature Center in South Knoxville is packed with cars, trucks, and buses as folks of all ages flock to hike, climb, swim and paddle its 300-plus acres of protected wildlands.
Making sure the center’s 620,000 or so annual visitors have a positive experience interacting with Mother Nature requires dozens of full-time employees plus a generous contingent of volunteers. Ensuring the complex operation stays on course and within its $1.8 million operating budget is a tough job, but Ijams Executive Director Amber Parker has been doing it for six years now and has no desire to be doing anything else.
When Amber talks about Ijams she fairly bursts with giddy, infectious energy. This is a woman who has clearly found her place in the world, and even a brief walk along any of the center’s 21 trails makes one wonder if the land itself hasn’t responded in like fashion to her devotion.
The crucial Amazon rainforest is nearing a point of no return
NYT: Decades of extraction have left the South American rainforest at a “tipping point.”
The Amazon has long served as a vast carbon sink, even as vegetation pumped oxygen into the atmosphere to the point it was called the “lungs of the Earth.”
But vast deforestation, despite calls to save the Amazon that originated decades ago, portends profound changes in the ecology of the huge, increasingly fragmented forest that lies mainly within Brazil.
“Just in the past half-century, 17 percent of the Amazon — an area larger than Texas — has been converted to croplands or cattle pasture. Less forest means less recycled rain, less vapor to cool the air, less of a canopy to shield against sunlight,” according to a report from Alex Cuadros.
“In one study, a team led by the researcher Paulo Brando intentionally set a series of fires in swaths of forest abutted by an inactive soy plantation. After a second burn, coincidentally during a drought year, one plot lost nearly a third of its canopy cover, and African grasses — imported species commonly used in cattle pasture — moved in.”
Updated 1/3: Conservationists express dismay as Feds conclude ‘no significant impact’ from construction of Wears Valley mountain bike complex
Written by JJ Stambaugh
Feds clear 14-mile mountain bike trail network off Foothills Parkway, but no funding is secured
GATLINBURG — Those who logged protests against a National Park Service plan to carve a 14-mile mountain bike trail network through the forest off Foothills Parkway said they still opposed the plan despite federal conclusions it would not adversely impact the natural environment of the area.
“I’m very disappointed,” said Donna Edwards, an outspoken conservationist who lives in Walland and participated in the public scoping process. “What are (the) reasons for choosing the alternative with the largest footprint and greatest environmental impact?
“I fail to understand why mountain bikers’ needs are considered to be more important than those of birders and hikers, considering the extensive mountain bike trail networks in other areas of East Tennessee.”
She said arguments against approving the Wears Valley mountain bike trails were wise and well documented.
Here is the original Hellbender Press story:
A proposed off-road bike trail in the Wears Valley section of the Foothills Parkway that would be operated by the National Park Service has overcome a procedural hurdle but appears to be no closer to actually being built due to a lack of funding.
An environmental assessment to determine the project’s potential impact on wildlife and the environment led to an official “Finding of No Significant Impact” (FONSI), park officials said in a press release issued Thursday.
“We understand the public’s desire to have a purpose-built bike trail, and this marks a step for potential future development of a trail in Wears Valley,” said Cassius Cash, superintendent of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. “Having the signed FONSI allows us the opportunity to explore potential funding paths for both the construction and the annual operational costs.”
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Updated 12/27: Temperatures climb and snow melts as bitter cold finally moves out of Southern Appalachians
Written by JJ Stambaugh
The sun breaks through the clouds in a South Knox County neighborhood on Tuesday morning following days-long subfreezing temperatures and snowfall Monday night. Thomas Fraser/Hellbender Press
Southern cities emerge from frigid airmass after Christmas weekend of brutal cold and snow
KNOXVILLE — Temperatures rose above freezing on Tuesday for the first time since Dec. 23 following a weekend bout with historic cold, high winds, burst water and sewage lines and power outages. The chaos was punctuated with unexpectedly potent snowfall Dec. 26 on frigid roadways that snarled traffic in the city and metro area.
The snow came in the wake of a brutal cold front that first moved into the region in the early hours Friday morning.
Snow didn’t start falling until Monday afternoon, and by sunrise Tuesday between .5 and 2 inches of the white stuff had blanketed the area, falling upon already frigid roadways.
Public safety officials across the region urged motorists to stay home, and numerous government offices either closed or got off to a late start Tuesday due to icy roads.
Both the Knoxville Police Department and Knox County Sheriff’s Office activated their Severe Weather plans, which meant that officers would only respond to emergencies and wrecks with injuries.