Cumberland CTF ReActivated

As you can see from the attached messages, we are reactivating the Cumberland Plateau Conservation Task Force to fight a new threat to the Spencer Mountain Cave system. We have also asked Joel Buckner to contact the NSS Legal Committee (Joel Stevenson) for legal advice. Being a geologist, I have asked Joel (OR ANY OF YOU) for any geological mapping that will help me understand how the sewage treatment plant will impact the cave. Then I will be able to write a better letter in protest to this situation. This is a newly developing situation, so stay tuned.

Please let me or Jo Schaper (CTF Coordinator) know if you have any suggestions on how to fight this situation. Does this impact USFS lands? Is Spencer Mountain Cave system on federal lands? Is it currently classified as a "significant cave?" Was NEPA followed for the sewage plant approval? Why hasn't there been a public comment period? As you can see, I have plenty of questions. I hope some of you can provide the answers. Thanks for any help you can provide. We will probably orchestrate a letter writing campaign in the future, along with posting some of the critical information on our website. I'll keep you posted. (But I'm off the the Denver BOG tomorrow.)

As you may have gathered, I am on vacation in DC until Friday. Is there anything Joel Buckner needs to do beyond this request? The only thing I would see from the enclosed letter are the names of the caves involved, if there are other names beyond "Spencer Mountain Cave system". Not being familiar with Tennessee, I know Camps Gulf is in this area (been there, and also Fall Creek Falls State Park, which is utterly amazing for eastern waterfalls.

Looks like a go on the basis of his letter to me. Joel, we will need, as soon as practicable, a formal contact person and contact info, a list of people working on the project, NSS status if possible (non-NSS people, as you probably know, are very welcome to help), a couple sentence "mission statement", and an action plan as soon as you have one. Some of this I can somewhat glean from your request and letter; it would be best if you or the contact person could sum up this info for us. None of this needs to be very long-- probably the digital equivalent of one side of a page should do it.

We are faced with the imminent threat of sewage pollution into the Spencer Mtn cave system by a proposed sewage treatment plant in Spencer, TN. We are currently in the midst of a letter writing campaign to fight this STP as proposed and are preparing to take legal action also.

The following is a copy of a letter I wrote that will give you an idea of what is involved.

>I am writing you out of concern that some of Tennessee's most significant natural heritage may be ruined by shortsighted planning. The proposed Spencer Sewage Treatment Plant would dump sewage into the limestone gorge of Dry Fork creek in Van Buren County. Dry Fork sinks underground most of the year and flows 6 miles north under the Spencer Mountain portion of the Cumberland Plateau to Great Falls Lake.

One of the greatest caves in the world is in Spencer Mountain and it would be a terrible shame and loss for Tennessee to have it turned into a sewer!
This area is similar in size to the area of the longest cave in the world, Mammoth Cave (over 300 miles long), and has thicker limestone for cave development. Over 12 miles of passages including underground rivers, huge rooms, and exquisite crystals have been discovered in the past few years. Unique organisms such as blindfish are present and it is very likely that new or endangered species exist also. The passages in the plateau also tend to be larger and more impressive than those of the world famous Mammoth Cave. We are just beginning to scratch the surface of what is there and exploration and mapping are continuing.

Ms. Saya Qualls, water permit manager of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, was quoted in the March 8 Nashville Scene as admitting that the TDEC did not hold any public meetings concerning the proposed STP. She further stated that the TDEC would not schedule any as public input would not be "productive".

I respectfully request that you instruct the TDEC to schedule public meetings before issuing a permit so that all citizens concerns can be addressed. There are logical and feasible alternatives and/or modifications to the present plan that will better meet the needs of Spencer without irreparably damaging the environment.

The CPCTF was active in the past to fight a proposed military range encompassing two gorges in the plateau.

Please let me know if you need any additional info at this time. Thanks.