The Tennessee Valley Authority's massive coal ash spill at its Kingston power plant is obviously a disaster for the people of Roane County, Tenn. who are now facing a billion gallons of toxic muck in their midst and uncertainty about the long-term health and environmental effects.

But the spill may also prove to be a financial disaster for U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.), who has disclosed investing at least $5 million and as much as $25 million in a development called The Cove at Blackberry Ridge along Watts Bar Reservoir, which has been polluted with ash from the spill.

A western North Carolina native, Shuler is a former star quarterback for the University of Tennessee football team. He is currently a member of the House Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment, one of two congressional panels responsible for overseeing TVA.

In June, TVA President and CEO Tom Kilgore approved 145 feet of lake access for The Cove's developers in exchange for their agreeing to relinquish other water-access rights and to provide about $15,000 for a bank stabilization project on the Watts Barr Reservoir, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported:

The Cove is a waterfront development located in Roane County on a peninsula northwest of the Dogwood Shores community. Jason Rudd, president of the Highlands Development Group, said that firm actually owns the property, while an entity called the Highlands Property Group owns 50 percent of the Highlands Development Group. Rudd said Shuler owns 80 percent of the Highlands Property Group.

Dogwood Shores lies about 17 miles downstream from the massive ash spill. A week since the disaster, there have already been reports of ash showing up as far as six miles downstream.

Though the water-access deal raised some eyebrows, Shuler reportedly did not take part in the negotiations with TVA. In fact, during his first term in Congress he has pressed TVA on environmental issues including emissions from its coal-burning power plants polluting the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

So far Shuler has not made any official statements about TVA's coal ash spill.