Great Job Dr. Joe Owusu-Yaw! for your work with EPA 27 Apr 2010
On December 22, 2008, a failure of the northeastern dike used to contain fly ash occurred at the dewatering area of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Kingston Fossil Plant located in Harriman, Tennessee. Subsequent to the dike failure, approximately 5.4 million cubic yards of fly ash sludge was released into a branch of the Emory River, two Emory River sloughs, eventually spilling into the main Emory River channel. The release covered approximately 300 acres outside of the fly ash dewatering and storage areas of the plant. An EPA Science Panel was charged with the responsibility of reviewing the effects of elemental selenium and selenium compounds, including selenate and selenite, contamination in the fly ash on the environment. Dr. Joe Owusu-Yaw, a Toxicologist from Integrated Laboratory Systems, Inc., an Environmental Services Assistance Team (ESAT) contractor to Region 4 was nominated by the EPA Region 4 Science and Ecosystem Support Division (SESD) to be part of the interdisciplinary Science Panel. The Panel was charged with answering questions related to:
a) the testing and monitoring needed to determine the fate and transport of any selenium released by the dike failure;
b) the appropriate analytical methods for use in testing for selenium;
c) evaluating and commenting on a mass balance model planned for use at the site; and
d) identifying the appropriate level of concern, or range of levels of concern, for response action for selenium contamination in the environmental media affected by the dike failure.
The Panel reviewed all available information on selenium and selenium compounds, selenium concentrations in site-related fish surface water, soil, and sediment and produced their final report after approximately 6 months of deliberation. The reviewed analytical methodology and results from different researchers and institutions. The final is available at Selenium Science Panel Report
Dr. Owusu-Yaw also reviewed and commented on an Interagency Agreement (IAG) Scope of Work (SOW) between USACE-ERDC and TVA with particular emphasis on the recommended toxicity tests. His review comments are appended to the Panel’s report. Dr. Owusu-Yaw received commendation from the Panel chair, Dr. William Sette, an EPA Senior Science Advisor at Headquarters, for his expertise and dedication to the Science Panel efforts.