田納西河流域管理局負責人表示，聯邦電力公司將會以最快的速度清理上個月煤灰洩漏所留下的殘局。但是在國會委員會的聽證會上，他面臨了參議員尖銳地質疑，表示不信任他的承諾。
事件是發生於擋牆無法承受60呎高的溼煤灰管而倒下，十億加侖的有毒汙泥和污染的水就這樣散落在400畝的地區。
聯邦和私人的分析調查顯示，水中的重金屬量大幅升高，在其中一個樣本中，砷的濃度甚至高於允許標準的149倍。
TVA總裁和執行長基爾戈(Tom Kilgore)作證說，公司將保證全力清理受污染地區，以及賠償被影響的居民。
為了要減少灰塵和侵蝕，TVA正在撒種子和肥料，以及在煤灰汙泥上撒液態灰塵的抑制物，這是TVA復原所有物質的計畫，但播種只是一個立即性的短期解決方式，不會在該場址滯留過久。
主持聽證會的巴賽爾(Barbara Boxer)議員表示，TVA應該對污染地區比現正著手的清理工作施行更多處置才是。他說：「這可不是無害的汙泥，在泥土上撒種子使得草長出來不是長久之計，清理工作若不做好，將會成為一個定時炸彈。」
全國的燃煤火力發電廠每年約製造13000噸煤灰，雖然有些煤灰可以再生成為工業建築材料，但是大多還是儲存在乾燥的掩埋場，或如金士頓公司掩埋在潟湖溼地。
巴賽爾說他會對歐巴馬當局施壓，來監控煤灰儲存法案制定，並會在下週任命權聽證會中詢問總統提名的環保局長傑克森(Lisa Jackson)這個議題。
根據聯邦能源資訊部的資料，美國有93%煤是作為發電用的。
The head of the Tennessee Valley Authority today pledged the federal electric utility would do a "first-rate job" cleaning up the mess left from last month's massive coal ash spill. But at a Congressional committee hearing to examine the spill he faced sharp criticism from senators unconvinced by his promises.
The spill devastated the area when a retaining wall holding back a 60 foot-high pile of wet coal ash gave way, sending a billion gallons of toxic sludge and contaminated water across 400 acres.
Federal and private analyses have found elevated levels of an array of heavy metals in the water, including arsenic at more than 149 times the maximum allowable levels in one sample.
TVA President and CEO Tom Kilgore testified that the utility is committed to completely remediating the contaminated area and will work to compensate affected residents.
To minimize dust and erosion, TVA is spreading grass seed and fertilizer, as well as a liquid dust suppressant on the ashy sludge. The seeding is an immediate, short-term solution and will not be left in place long term, aa TVA plans to recover all the material possible.
Senator Barbara Boxer, which conducted the hearing said TVA should be doing more than it currently is doing to clean up the area. "This isn't a harmless mud," she said. "Seeding the ground with grass is not a permanent solution. Cleanup can be done right or it can be a ticking timebomb."
Coal-fired power plants across the country produce some 130 million tons of ash every year. Although some of the ash is recycled into industrial building materials, much of it is either stored in dry landfills or wet lagoons like the one at the Kingston plant.
Boxer said she would press the Obama administration to enact federal rules governing coal ash storage and would question the president-elect's nominee to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lisa Jackson, about the issue at her confirmation hearing next week.
Almost 93 percent of all coal consumed in the United States is burned to generate electricity, according to the federal Energy Information Agency.
