A federal judge approved a $27.8 million settlement between the Tennessee Valley Authority and property owners harmed by the utility’s massive coal ash spill in 2008. The spill occurred when a dike burst at TVA’s Kingston Fossil Plant and released more than 5 million cubic yards of toxic ash sludge from a containment pond. The sludge flowed into a river and fouled hundreds of acres along the river about 35 miles west of Knoxville, affecting about 800 property owners. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Varian found TVA at fault in 2012.

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FERC Approves Settlement in Southwest Blackout

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week approved a consent agreement that its Office of Enforcement and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation reached with the Imperial Irrigation District relating to a Sept. 8, 2011 blackout that left more than 5 million in the dark. NERC and FERC found that the IID violated four Reliability Standards in its operations leading up to the blackout that spread from Southern California to Arizona and Baja California, Mexico. The settlement mandates that the IID spend at least $9 million on system reliability improvements, with the remaining $3 million going to the U.S. Treasury and NERC.

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DOE’s Research Info More Accessible Now

The Department of Energy has developed an Internet-based portal to a trove of its scholarly publications and research data. The Public Access Gateway for Energy and Science – PAGES – provides free access to manuscripts and published scientific journal articles within a year of publication.

“Increasing access to the results of research … will enable researchers and entrepreneurs to capitalize on our substantial research and development investments,” Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said. PAGES already contains a collection of accepted manuscripts and journal articles, and more data and links to articles and accepted manuscripts will be added as they are submitted. DOE hopes it grows by up to 30,000 articles and manuscripts a year.

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EPA Names New 2nd-in-Command

The Environmental Protection Agency last week named Lisa Feldt as acting deputy administrator, the second highest position in the agency. She replaces Bob Perciasepe, who served in the position since 2009. Perciasepe is leaving to become director of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, an advocacy group. Feldt’s appointment was among several staffing announcements at the agency.

More: The Hill

EPA Chief: Climate Change Should Be Taught in Schools

Environmental Protection Agency Director Gina McCarthy said in an interview she thinks the science behind climate change should be taught in the nation’s schools. “I think part of the challenge of explaining climate change is that it requires a level of science and a level of forward thinking and you’ve got to teach that to kids,” McCarthy said in an interview published last Friday in the magazine Irish American. Observersbelieve her remarks will generate controversy, especially among Republican lawmakers who remain skeptical of the idea of man-caused climate change.

More: The Hill

Final Rule on Nuke Waste Expected Soon

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to issue the final rule governing storage of nuclear waste, a rule that has impacted nuclear generating stations’ ability to store used fuel on site. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in 2012 found that the NRC rule allowing on-site storage for up to 60 years violated the National Environmental Policy Act and ordered the NRC to come up with a new rule. The new rule is expected to be released within a month and will be named “Environmental Impacts of Continued Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel Beyond the Licensed Life for Operation of a Reactor.”

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NRC Cites Calvert Cliffs for Safety Violation

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week cited Exelon, operator of the Calvert Cliffs nuclear station in Lusby, Md., for a miscalculation that could have led to an unnecessary evacuation. Radiation detectors at the plant were accidentally set to trigger an alarm at radiation levels 100 times lower than what would have posed a safety threat. The alarm was never activated, and workers discovered the mistake and corrected it four months later.

NRC inspectors said the mistake could have caused an unnecessary evacuation and deemed it a safety violation. “Ideally, we want them to be in the right zone if they have an emergency event,” NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said, “not under-classifying it but not over-classifying it, either.” The violation could result in increased NRC scrutiny of the plant.

More: The Baltimore Sun