Heath Shuler Denies Wrongdoing with Tennessee Valley Authority Deal

North Carolina Rep. Heath Shuler said Wednesday that he did not contact the Tennessee Valley Authority while the agency was considering a water access deal that was key to a housing development in which he was an investor.

The Waynesville, N.C., Democrat’s statement appears to contradict the conclusion in a report by TVA’s inspector general released Tuesday, and it further clouds a complex and politically charged issue.

The inspector general’s report said a TVA employee “denied knowing Congressman Shuler contacted TVA” about an application by The Cove at Blackberry Ridge LLC for approval of a land swap so a boat dock could be built at Watts Bar Reservoir in Roane County, Tenn.

Read more:

(Bill Theobald, “Heath Shuler Denies Wrongdoing on TVA Land Deal,” The Tennessean, 9/17/09)