Giant pond of coal ash escapes, floods Tennessee homes 5

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1. 

   wildleaf Posted 7:58 am
   25 Dec 2008

   This is a big F-ing Disaster!I was born in Kentucky and lived most of my life in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. This is a catastrophe as big as it gets in the US and while the MSM barely covers it the people of that area suffer. I would love it if Grist would follow this brief with something more substantial. It is easy to disregard the poor people of the south who have been stepped on for hundreds of years. People in metropolises like Seattle who munch on organic food and drink pure spring water in their half a million and up homes like to think of that area as somehow deserved of their circumstances because of some class-ism that they feel justified in feeling.
   I encourage people to view the aerial footage and also the fishermen accounts of the dead fish covering the banks of the rivers that supply food and freshwater to millions.

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2. 

   Wolverine Posted 11:08 am
   27 Dec 2008

   Humans Are Not The Only Ones On EarthThe damage from this inexcusable disaster goes far beyond that to a few homes.  An entire ecosystem is badly damaged, including a major fish kill.  And while Wildleaf is correct that most people in the U.S. ignore the poor, including the poor of Appalachia, human-centric reporting, including that by Grist, is infuriating.

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3. 

   sassafrassmolly Posted 5:09 am
   28 Dec 2008

   Please update your info and spread the word!Grist! It may be the holidays, but the news never sleeps! Since your tiny report on this event, TVA finally spread the news that the spill was much larger than originally estimated. It is now officially at 5.4 millon cubic yards, or over 1 billion gallons. For comparison, the Exxon Valdez spill was only 11 million gallons. Please, help us spread the word! The New York Times is on it (front page of their website for several days), as is Tennessee Green (Tennessean.com) and Appalachian Voices (http://www.appvoices.org/frontporch), which has two first-hand accounts on their site, among others.
   Check it out!

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4. 

   SouthernBeale Posted 8:28 am
   28 Dec 2008

   This is a HUGE storyTVA has revised their estimate of the size of the spill three times. Latest estimate is 1 billion gallons.
   You'd think they'd know how much crap was in their sludge pund, seeing as how they'd had to repair it twice already and it was nearing the end of its lifespan. Guess they don't keep track of that sort of stuff.
   Coal is used to generate 50% of the power in this country. Not every power plant uses the same wet ash disposal methods of the Kingston TVA plant, but every single coal fired power plant generates ash of some kind. Everyone in this country should be concerned because chances are they have a potential Superfund site in their own backyards.
   Hope to see Grist cover this more fully in the coming days. Goodness known CNN isn't ...

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5. 

   Sundog Posted 7:23 am
   29 Dec 2008

   Coal Ash in TennesseHave been following this story through the media since first reports of dam failure. From denial of toxicity to underestimating volume of spill the TVA response has been horrible.
   To wildleaf - I think your statement in reference to Seattle, etc. is out of line. I'm an organic kind of guy and west coaster who, like many of my neighbors, tracks national energy issues with interest; including those associated with eastern coal and hydro. I have traveled through the area impacted by the spill. Recently finished Coal River, by Michael Shnayerson, which I've recommended to friends.
        

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