On December 22, 2008 the dam holding back a coal fly ash slurry pond at the Kingston Fossil Plant burst, covering 300 acres in coal ash waste. 1.1+ billion gallons of coal ash sludge material was released in the spill, contaminating the nearby Emory and Clinch rivers. The volume of material was more than 50 times the amount of oil involved in the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill. The coal ash contains high concentrations of heavy metals including arsenic, lead, barium, chromium, and manganese. Officials have called the TVA Kingston ash spill one of the largest environmental disasters in US history.
Beranda
