January 10

Volunteers with United Mountain Defense took Dr. Avner Vengosh and graduate student, Laura Ruhl of Duke University out into the field again today to gather more water and coal ash samples. We mainly focused our efforts along the Emory and Clinch Rivers downstream of the disaster site. We also located a whole bunch of springs previously buried by the coal ash which had emerged from their coal ash graves within the last few days. These springs had washed the coal ash away and their waters were cutting new channels in a meandering pattern through the gray muck. We also gathered a sample of a Swan Pond Circle Dr. spring that many residents had been drinking from for years which had been roped off with “Caution” tape two and half weeks after the coal ash disaster. In addition to the coal ash and river water samples we also gathered a sample of Harriman city water from a Swan Pond Circle Drive resident’s home tap.

On this day we observed and recorded a helicopter dropping hay on the coal ash to help control the dust.

When you are operating in a natural disaster such as this there is a tendency to run full blast 24 hours 7 days a week. Well United Mountain Defense volunteers have been on the ground since day one of TVA’s coal ash disaster. As we finish week three of the disaster the United Mountain Defense volunteers decided to take the rest of the day for ourselves which basically meant that we were answering the phones, checking emails, and writing a grant. Well someone has got to do it. Thank you for your support.

 January 11

United Mountain Defense’s dedicated volunteer staff finished and submitted a technical assistance grant to the Appalachian Community Fund today. The Appalachian Community Fund has been very supportive of United Mountain Defense’s work in TN and Appalachia and we look forward to working with them in the future as well.

The world has its eyes focused on Harriman, TN and United Mountain Defense right now and the reason for this is all of the ground work that our dedicated volunteer force has put into helping during this disaster. United Mountain Defense is an all volunteer organization and although we have had volunteers on the ground since day one we have also had a dedicated volunteer force in Knoxville, TN working to put all of our video footage on the internet. The Knoxville support crew has also been on the conference calls, helping wrangle the media, and fundraising like never before. So this is a big shout out the Knoxville support crew, United Mountain Defense would be lost without yall. I also want to give a shout out to all of the folks out there who are helping out in whatever ways you are. I know that your prayers are with us and the folks of Harriman and everyone living downstream and downwind.

The United Mountain Defense field crew got to touch base with the Knoxville support crew today. It was good to see our friends. We also got to tie up loose like paying those pesky utility bills for the United Mountain Defense volunteer house.

There is no shortage of a need for project funding. United Mountain Defense is a 501c3 and we are seeking funding or co-sponsoring organizations to help fund personal protection equipment, bottled water, independent air and water monitoring, and biometric testing of impacted residents.

If you are a resident of the Swan Pond community please contact us at 865 689 2778.

If you can make a donation of money or other resources please send a check to United Mountain Defense P.O. Box 20363 Knoxville, TN 37920 or use our PayPal account at www.unitedmountaindefense.org

Ed note:  Matt Landon, a full time volunteer with United Mountain Defense, is reporting from the ground in Harriman, TN.  Because of his chaotic schedule, we've just received a batch of diary posts from the past week, which we'll be re-publishing in chronological order. Here are all of his posts.