An expert witness testified yesterday that there's no scientific evidence that emissions from the Tennessee Valley Authority's coal-fired power plants cause health problems.
Epidemiologist Suresh Moolgavkar testified on behalf of TVA, saying that "there wasn't sufficient evidence to support a causal relationship."
Moolgavkar, a professor at the University of Washington, testified during a hearing in North Carolina's lawsuit against TVA. The lawsuit accuses the utility of illegally allowing emissions to cross state lines.
Moolgavkar's testimony clashed with plaintiffs' witness Jonathan Levy, an associate professor of environmental health and risk assessment at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Levy testified about possible health benefits should TVA be forced to cut emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, mercury and soot from its coal-fired plants.
Levy said that his study estimated that each year in North Carolina, there would be 99 fewer premature deaths, 19,000 fewer asthma attacks, 55 fewer emergency-room visits related to asthma and 2,300 fewer lost school days.
The calculations "fly in the face of common sense," Moolgavkar said. "These numbers cannot be taken seriously. The assumptions underlying them are meaningless."
Moolgavkar acknowledged under cross-examination that his studies and papers were financed by such groups as the American Iron and Steel Institute and the American Petroleum Institute. A senior deputy attorney general for the state, James Gulick, said that such organizations have a financial stake in conclusions reached about the association of air pollution and ill health effects.
Yesterday's testimony in U.S. District Court here concluded the trial's second week. Testimony will resume Tuesday.
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