Tennessee Chapter

The Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club, the world’s oldest, largest,
and most influential grassroots environmental organization

Latest Tennes-Sierran Now Online

November-December 2024

Coming Up! Chapter Winter Retreat

Cedars of Lebanon State Park ~ January 17 - 19

Join other nature lovers for a weekend at Cedars of Lebanon State Forest, known for its cedar glades, a unique type of ecosystem that has adapted to the thin (or nonexistent) soil layers that often occur in the eastern Central Basin.

Learn More and Register : Chapter Winter Retreat

Patrick "Pat" Cupples is Chapter's First Director

The Chapter's first Director Patrick Cupples is now on board. Pat's most recent experience was serving as Director of Education and Founder of the Mastic Beach Conservancy in Long Island, New York. Mastic Beach Conservancy is a leading community group in educational and aquaculture initiatives, along with the protection and thoughtful design of waterfront parkland. Pat was also a music/media producer and small business owner in Brooklyn. He is married with two children.

Tennessee Sierra Club members do testing and find high levels of PFAS

PFAS-laden sludge from Bristol's sewage treatment plant is applied to farmland.
Read the report: Tennessee Sludge Report 2024
More about PFAS Contamination in Tennessee: PFAS

Legacy Contamination on the Oak Ridge Reservation: Take Action Now!

Nuclear work during the Manhattan Project on the Oak Ridge Reservation resulted in widespread contamination that remains, decades later. For cleanup work to continue, the Department of Energy (DOE) proposed a new landfill, the Environmental Management Disposal Facility (EMDF) which has been approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC). Cleanup of legacy contamination is urgent and necessary. Unfortunately, the selected approach may result yet again in future generations having to deal with today’s problems, as the discharge criteria for EMDF have not been set and may not even be subject to public input. Learn more and what you can take to improve the outcome: Legacy Contamination: Take Action

Sierra Club members in Tennessee have a great new tool for winning elections.

Our PAC funded a strategically targeted mailer educating voters about local candidates we endorsed and the stakes in the race. The result was a margin of victory for each of them significantly higher than they expected.

Learn More and Find Out How You Can Support This Game-Changing Effort Going Forward