KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - An attorney for the Tennessee Valley Authority has questioned the credibility of a civil engineer who has testified as an expert for plaintiffs at the utility's ash spill trial.
When the federal bench trial resumed Monday in Knoxville, an attorney for TVA took aim at drawings that civil engineer B. Dan Marks produced.
Marks contends the Dec. 22, 2008, ash spill stemmed from TVA's failure to monitor and control increased underground water pressure in the dikes that enclosed the toxin-laden ash.
The Knoxville News Sentinel reported that Marks said he could not find "as built" drawings and relied on TVA and the AECOM engineering firm that analyzed the cause of the spill (http://bit.ly/qsdOZw ).
The attorney pointed out discrepancies of distances, a misplaced decimal point and other inaccuracies in the drawings.
Information from: The Knoxville News Sentinel, http://www.knoxnews.com
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