Toxic Ash Pond Collapses in Tennessee

The residue of millions of tons of coal burning at Kingston Fossil power plant in the Watts Bar Reservoir in Tennessee burst the bounds of the pond in which it was contained, burying as many as 400 acres of land in up to six feet of sludge. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which owns the coal-fired power plant--first operated in 1955--announced that 15 homes were buried and no injuries were reported.A combination of rains and accumulating sludge likely contributed to the disaster--one of two major ash pond collapses in the past decade. All told, about 2.6 million cubic yards of so-called coal ash slurry escaped, the TVA says. The collapsed pond is one of three on the site. [More]

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