The video in this post was done by Molly Tillyer, who wrote me the following email:

I grew up in a neighboring town (Oak Ridge). My younger brother and sister graduated from Harriman. My parents worked hard all their lives and built their dream home on the water about 3 years ago. [She later wrote me that her mother is a retired EEO investigator and Ethics Officer from Martin Marietta and her father is retired military.]

At first they were in shock, who wouldn’t be? But shock has slowly turned to anger. There’s a lot of double talk and confusion and, frankly, lying. Neighbors aren’t getting answers. It’s very frustrating.

TVA has been saying that everyone was evacuated. No, they weren’t. People whose homes were completely destroyed were (around 3 families), but everyone else remained. And didn’t hear from the TVA for days. And their children were out in this mess, climbing around on the “mud”. And their pets were eating the dead fish that TVA said didn’t exist. An official warning to stay away from the coal ash was never issued. Not by TVA. My parents and their neighbors were learning more from environmental activists and news reporters than the folks who are claiming, “people first, environment second.”

I don’t live in the area, haven’t for years. So maybe that gives me some perspective. I think the exaggerated deference that the governor was talking about, absolutely exists. TVA is a major employer. A convenience store across from the steam plant has a sign that reads ‘Thank you, TVA’ and the sign was put up out of sincerity, not sarcasm. Most people know someone who works there. They want to trust. They NEED to trust. And I think TVA counts on that.

Howie Rose, the man in charge of Roane County emergency management and homeland security put out this statement, “special interest groups (that would be the environmentalists and Tennessee Department of Health that he’s referring to) want to put out misinformation, and county residents are saying they don’t know what to believe.

“Well, I’m telling you what to believe. You believe what these people down here are telling you to believe,” (referring to TVA) And here comes the best part…”Because I’m seeing the data just like everybody else is, and I don’t understand it all, but they explained it to me and I’ve got faith in these people down here and what they do.”

Mr. Rose, by the way, doesn’t live on the ashtray.