Highlights from a controversial and at times emotional public hearing Tuesday evening included a fish fry prior to the event and a senior citizen being physically removed from the podium by a Crossville Police officer after her three-minute time limit ran out. The woman was permitted to return to her seat and stay for the remainder of the meeting.

Out of roughly 40 speakers during the public hearing, five spoke publicly in favor of the county approving the project. The majority who spoke at the hearing were against the project.

Hundreds attended the public hearing.

"I was completely startled and I wasn't too sure what was going to happen ... I was shocked to be treated that way," said Crossville resident Margie Buxbaum.

Buxbaum, one of the first people to speak during the comment portion of the hearing, was one of many who voiced their opinions against a proposed fly ash mine reclamation project on Smith Mountain.

Many others offered to give their time to Buxbaum, but Warren Nevad, municipal management consultant of the University of Tennessee, who moderated the meeting for County Technical Advisory Services (CTAS) would not allow participants to transfer their time to others.

Once Buxbaum ran out of time and continued to speak, Nevad told her at least twice that she was out of time, but she continued to speak. Nevad, then, unsure of what to do, motioned for one of the police officers. An officer then came over and physically escorted Buxbaum away from the podium.

County commissioners, other presenters and many attending watched in bewilderment. Dozens of people screamed and hollered in protest. One person yelled obscenities and was promptly threatened to be removed.

Later, if speakers making comments went over their allotted three minutes, Nevad requested the sound be turned off.

The hearing which sparked the controversy was held because Smith Mountain Solutions, LLC has submitted a proposal for a subtitle D landfill "beneficial re-use" project to the Cumberland County Commission.

The proposed project is designed to place coal combustion products (fly ash) as fill for the purpose of reclamation of approximately 300 acres of a surface coal mining operation at 6728 Smith Mountain Rd., Crab Orchard.

Wright Brothers Construction, Inc. is based in Charleston, TN and is the owner of Smith Mountain Solutions, LLC.

The ash would be coming from Roane County and the company has requested the county begin the permitting process under the Jackson Law.

The purpose of the hearing is to fill part of the requirements of the Jackson Law and allows county commissioners to review the project and get public input and reaction to the project.

Recently, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency signed an enforceable agreement with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to oversee the removal of the coal ash at the TVA Kingston Fossil Fuel Plant in Roane County, where more than five million cubic yards of coal ash spilled. Under the Administrative Order and Agreement on Consent (order) which was entered into under the Superfund law, EPA will oversee the cleanup and TVA will reimburse EPA for its oversight costs.

Prior to Tuesday's hearing at the Palace Theatre, Smith Mountain Solutions, LLC offered a free fish fry dinner to the public. Several displays were in the Palace offering the public a chance to review how the process of reclaiming the mine with fly ash would work. Samples of the liners to be used were also on display as well as free T-shirts for those who support the project and support the potential jobs it will bring.

Groups on both sides of the issue gathered prior to the hearing displaying signs in favor of the project and potential jobs, or against bringing the ash into the county.

Out of the many truck drivers attending the meeting in support of the project, only a handful were from Cumberland County. The majority were from Morgan and Roane counties. This was shown after one speaker asked those truck drivers from Cumberland County to raise their hands.

Although the state's Jackson Law applies in this case, meaning the county has the right to review the project and hear from the public before approving or denying it, TVA's overall plan submitted to the federal Environmental Protection Agency has to be approved before any local projects can begin.

Coal ash at the site contains arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, selenium and zinc, which are hazardous substances as defined under Superfund. The terms of the EPA order require that the disposal of coal ash from the spill meet specific protective disposal standards for landfills, such as synthetic liners, leachate collection systems and groundwater monitoring.

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) has said the fly ash is not toxic unless it is airborne or if it comes in contact with groundwater drinking supplies.

Steve Wright of Wright Brothers Construction, Inc. and Smith Mountain Solutions, LLC started the meeting saying that Hillsborough Resources Limited has reported it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Wright Brothers Construction, Inc. with respect to the sale of Crossville Coal, Inc. The sale is subject to Wright Brothers securing the contract for fly ash disposal on the Crossville mine site with TVA.

The meeting began with a presentation of the Smith Mountain Solutions proposal and how it would perform the project. It lasted approximately one hour.

There were eight significant points county commissioners were told by Smith Mountain Solutions on how the project was in compliance with the Jackson Law and how the project would be a benefit to the county and environment.

• Coal Combustible Products, CCPs, would be the only product going into the reclamation project and it would be overseen by the TVA, EPA and TDEC. It would be a monofill landfill.

• The method of transport would be dump trucks, which would be covered with tarps preventing any fly ash from becoming airborne.

• The project would not produce any odor because there would be no garbage and CCPs do not have an odor.

"Noise will not be a major issue at Smith Mountain Solutions. Noise levels will not be in excess of the coal mining operations which have occurred historically at the site and will not be in excess of acceptable levels," the proposal states.

• Impact on property values will not be negative and a study of the property values of 117 parcels of real estate indicate the values of property have increased at a rate of 16 percent.

• Smith Mountain Rd. will be improved to handle the additional volume of truck traffic on the road. A tip fee of 50 cents per ton will go to the Cumberland County Road Department fund to maintain Smith Mountain Rd.

• Economic impact will be a benefit to the county because Smith Mountain Solutions will create approximately 100 jobs. These jobs will be mainly for truck drivers and heavy equipment operators. Tip fees will be paid to the county.

"We will do our best to hire Cumberland County residents," Mitchell Simpson, an engineer with Smith Mountain Solutions, said.

Simpson said an agreement of $1.50 per cubic yard would be paid to Cumberland County. That could easily total more than $5 million going into the county's general fund at a rate of approximately $1.6 million per year. It could possibly prevent a tax increase for years, Simpson suggested.

• It would be a facility for fly ash and not a surface mine and operations would not be inconsistent with existing land uses.

• The monofill would be operated within all current and future local, state and federal regulations, according to the proposal.

"You would reclaim a 400 acre mine and return to a natural state," Simpson said.

Several people made comments after the Smith Mountain Solutions presentation.

John Coye, a Smith Mountain resident, said he moved to the area to retire in the peace, quiet and tranquility the area offered.

"I don't care ... I don't want it (the project there) Leave my mountain alone," Coye said.

Barbara Coye, John's wife, said she is more concerned with the safety of children in the area.

"What happens when the first child or adult dies? ... There are other things to consider beside jobs and money," Mrs. Coye said.

Margie Buxbaum told commissioners that their funding of the Crossville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce Retire to Tennessee program was working. Many have moved to this area and to Smith Mountain in particular because they read about the county and wanted the peace and quiet of a mountain top community.

"There are bridge and road conditions to think about. It's unsafe," she said.

Susan Schmidt told commissioners that if they were going to err to err on the side of caution.

"This is a disaster waiting to happen," Schmidt said.

Dave Brundage said he has invested nearly $2 million into a project on Smith Mountain called the Black Cat Lodge, a rehabilitation center for teens recovering from abuse drugs problems.

"Everything I've done out there on that mountain is to save another person's life," Brundage said.

Attorney Elizabeth Murphy of Nashville said, "This is not structured fairly ... I'm pretty sure if this goes through there will be a legal challenge for a chancellor to decide."

She also said the dump trucks are not vacuum trucks and the ash and that "stuff will be all over the county ... you do not have a democracy here."

Dennis Gregg of Cumberland County said, "Make a decision based on the correct timetable ... you just now got the application ... two weeks is not enough time to review it."

Gregg also added it will take anywhere from three to five years to get the permit approved from TDEC and the EPA.

There were some who spoke in favor of the project.

Doug Spangler said TVA has been good for the area and that "we should be a good neighbor and help TVA out ... the experts say this is not a hazard. You should consider it for the jobs and the community."

Mike Monroe of Roane County said, "Roane County has been scared to death by false information ... it's the same thing happening here. The veiled threats, scare tactics, they'll vote you out. I represent the silent majority here and they vote, too."

Nancy Maynard of Roane County said she lives just five miles below the spill.

"I believe in the project and I won't benefit any from it. TVA will pay the county wherever it goes ... I would be happy to keep it in Roane County. I feel safe. Sure, you may have a little noise but the money will stay here in Tennessee," Maynard said.

Adrienne Arms of Morgan County said, "Trucking pays my mortgage. This will be good thing for your county. There's people out there who need jobs ..."

She also said the people who moved up on that mountain knew there was a mine up there.

"You don't have the right to tell people what to do on their property," she said.

V.J. Dodson, former county commissioner of Cumberland County, addressed the crowd in support of the potential for jobs. He currently serves on the Plateau Partnership Industrial Park board of directors.

"A lot of you people are new to the area and benefit from the pining and suffering of those before you. TVA bought up the valleys and many had to sacrifice their land for the electric ... we have got to have affordable electric," Dodson said.

In all, the community comments went for more than 2.5 hours.

Commissioners attending the hearing were Jim Inman, 1st District; Robert Safdie, 2nd District; Lynn Tollett, 3rd District; Charles Seiber, 4th District; Jack Davis and Trey Kerley, 5th District; Wendell Wilson and Terry Carter, 6th District; Kenneth Carey and Mike Harvel, 7th District; Jeff Brown, 8th District; and Carmin Lynch, 9th District.

Commissioners Harry Sabin, 1st District; Nancy Hyder, 2nd District; Johnny Presley, 3rd District; David Gibson, 4th District; Greg Maxwell, 8th District; and Clyde Cramer, 9th District, did not attend the hearing.

Neither TDEC or EPA officials did not attend the public hearing.

A complete copy of the Smith Mountain Solutions proposal is available for viewing at the Art Circle Public Library. Letters to the Cumberland County Commission regarding the project will be accepted until Monday, June 15, at 4:30 p.m.

The full county commission will meet June 15 at 7 p.m. and a discussion regarding the proposal is on the agenda. The meeting will be in the large courtroom of the Cumberland County Courthouse. The public is welcome to attend.