Ash Christmas: Yesterday's TVA Coal Disaster is Toxic Wake Up Call to Nation

An estimated 500 million gallons of coal ash sludge are seeping along the I-40 Knoxville-Nashville corridor in eastern Tennessee today, after an earthen wall gave way on December 22nd at the TVA Harriman coal-fired plant. While no casualties were reported, the coal ash spill -- the refuse left over after the plant burns the coal --should be a terrifying toxic wake up call about the thousands of coal-fired plants and refuse pile accidents waiting to happen across the county.

Coal ash contains mercury, lead, and arsenic. Nearly 800 Olympic-size swimming pools of that toxic mix are flowing into the waterways of Tennessee right now. As the Knoxville Sentinel News reported today:

"Viewed from above, the scene looked like the aftermath of a tsunami, with swirls of dirtied water stretching for hundreds of acres on the land, and muddied water in the Emory River.

The Emory leads to the Clinch, which flows into the Tennessee. Workers sampled river water Monday, with results expected back today, but didn't sample the dunelike drifts of muddy ash."

For the millions of people downstream in Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky, a spill estimated to be several times bigger than the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska is creeping into their waterways and aquifers.

Footage of the spill can be seen here.

But here's the nightmare coda: Coal ash is more toxic and radioative than nuclear waste. According to recent studies:

"...the waste produced by coal plants is actually more radioactive than that generated by their nuclear counterparts. In fact, fly ash--a by-product from burning coal for power -- contains up to 100 times more radiation than nuclear waste."

According to some surveys, people living near coal ash dumps have 900 times the national cancer rates.

Let's hope the TVA, EPA and appropriate government agencies not only deal with this spill in a swift and wise manner; let's hope the new Obama administration recognizes the dangers of dirty coal and accelerates its clean energy program.

Comments

[tnresident]

Saturday, January 3, 2009, WSMV reported, "The TVA is hoping Mother Nature will help in the cleanup of that huge ash/water spill in East Tennessee. The utility begain spraying water and spreading grass seed around its Kingston fossil plant. The idea here is to cut down on the amount of dust and ash that flies up into the air and then errodes into the the water supply when it rains. More than a billion gallons of the sludge spilled...on December 22nd, covering some 300 acres of Roan County."

Thank you again for you coverage, other than the people in Tennessee who are closely affected by this no one else seems to take much of an interest in it anymore.

[tnresident]

On Tuesday, December 30, Nashville's television station WSMV reported "...Coal ash often becomes a radioactive substance; it can have a long-term effect if there is any radiation it, it will stay around for a long time, it will stay in the soil, in the water, in the area for a long time... "

"...The Engineer we talked to is an expert on the coal/sludge issues, he says that short-term there could actually be some impact on people's health including rashes, kidney disease and neurological problems, and that's just the short-term, the question is, will people suffer years from now...?"

Thank you so much for reporting on this! Not so many people are taking an interest in it and it's very disturbing to those who live in Tennessee and who just paid an increase to their electrical fees to the TVA!

[tnresident]

On Monday, December 29, NBC News reported "The Environmental Protection Agency said today that the billion gallon coal sludge spill in Tennessee did deposit heavy metals above the level acceptable for drinking water, but the EPA indicates the level is BELOW what is considered harmful to humans"...

[tnresident]

After this disaster, a TVA Spokesman said they were not aware of any fish kills and they were working with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation to examine and mitigate any environmental damage that it may have caused.

When asked specifically about the hundreds to thousands of dead fish found near the steam plant in the Clinch River, TVA Spokesman Gil Francis said the sudden dip in temperatures could have played a role...

[joanVA]

Thanks for reporting---I wish this has been covered on CNN instead of the street flooding.

In Giles County, Virginia, citizens have fought AEP on putting a coal fly ash site right on the New River. It has an earthen dam but with no liner. The AEP environmental(?) said not to worry about the dam failing. the river would disperse any toxic chemicals! The citizens lost in court so fly ash is being dumped for months.

The more power plants install pollution controls, the more toxic chemicals go into the fly and bottom ash. With little regulation at the national and state level, these dumps will become future Superfund sites and be a source of massive litigation­---another legacy to leave to the next generation.

[Thermodynamics]

Here is a little perspective on 500 million gallons. My city of 300,000 uses about 25 million gallons of water per day and processes about 20 million gallons of sewage.each day.

[mediamarv]

This story needs to get wide spread attention. The video footage is almost unbelievable.
So much for the Clean Coal propaganda campaign...

[NightArrow]

Whoa!

Thanks for the write up on this. Knowing this and watching the news focus on the flooding in Maryland is infuriating. The footage of it is just crazy.

"Coal ash is more toxic and radioactive than nuclear waste." --- That is startling.

Appalachians gets screwed every time.

Thanks Jeff,

- A proud mountaineer.

[JSterlace]

It's startling because it's not accurate.

As horrible as this situation is, Jeff is wrong about coal ash. It is NOT more toxic and radioative than nuclear waste. I don't think he read the entire Scientific American article he linked. He definitely didn't read the research it was based on.
Please see my fisking of the nuclear concerns here.