TVA project continues to spark resistance; Town meeting set for September 23

So far the only energy it's generated is rhetorical. But if you're curious about the proposed methane gas plant near Ashland City and have the time it would take to earn a law degree, then Google “TVA Cheatham County” and read on.

There you will find links to a well-balanced pro and con summary — why the Tennessee Valley Authority facility should or shouldn't be built — as well as a series of videos in which country singer and songwriter John Rich excoriates the project via conversations with county residents who fear their property and lifestyle will be damaged by the plant and the transmission line and pipeline attached to it.

In a video posted June 19, Rich spoke with Cheatham County Mayor Kerry McCarver, who said the next opportunity for residents to make their views known is Tuesday, Sept. 23, starting at 5 p.m. when TVA will “update on the environmental and other testing they've been doing for the last several months.” The town hall meeting will be held at Cheatham Middle School in Ashland City.

“Everyone is against this county-wide,” McCarver said, referring to the proposed construction on the 286-acre site TVA purchased in 2020.

Rich, whose family owns property in the county, has emerged as the defacto leader of the opposition and has appealed to President Trump to cancel the project. A long-time supporter of Trump, Rich came to know him when he participated in and won in Season 17 of “The Celebrity Apprentice” Trump hosted.

Oddly enough, Rich has not pitched Tennessee's two senators nor Seventh District Congressman Mark Green via his videos. A spokesman in Green's Washington office indicated that the representative was either not aware of the Cheatham conflict or had not taken a position on it.

Rich has been especially outspoken against the TVA and its subcontractors for sending out armed guards with the survey teams scouting out right-of-ways and taking those to court who deny the surveyors access to their property.

Fellow country artist Mo Pitney has joined Rich in opposition, noting that he had chosen Cheatham County for his “forever home” which is only “about a mile” from the target site. In response, he wrote a gentle protest song that begins, “Hey, TVA, can't you see the land is crying?/Can't you see the river's dying​?”

The group Preserve Cheatham County has set up a Facebook page to fuel the resistance and is sponsoring a July 4 fundraiser with all proceeds going “directly toward public outreach, legal support and stopping this destructive project before it's too late.”

Resisters may enjoy (or shudder) watching the 1960 movie “Wild River” (on Prime) in which a TVA administrator, played by Montgomery Clift, is sent in to clear out a valley in preparation for the building of a dam that will flood it.