Hi there,

Immigration raids are spreading across the country. The agencies meant to protect public health are being dismantled from within. Public broadcasting is being defunded... Today, Democracy Now!'s independent reporting is more important than ever. Because we never accept corporate or government funding, we rely on viewers, listeners and readers like you to sustain our work. Can you start a monthly donation? Monthly donors represent more than 20 percent of our annual revenue. Every dollar makes a difference. Thank you so much.

Democracy Now!
Amy Goodman

Non-commercial news needs your support.

We rely on contributions from you, our viewers and listeners to do our work. If you visit us daily or weekly or even just once a month, now is a great time to make your monthly contribution.

Please do your part today.

Donate

Tennessee Coal Disaster Three Times Larger Than First Projected

HeadlineDec 29, 2008

In other news, cleanup efforts continue in Tennessee to combat the largest coal ash spill in US history. The Tennessee Valley Authority now says 5.4 million cubic yards of toxic coal sludge spilled out of a coal plant retention pond last week, burying homes and roads. That is three times the size of the TVA’s initial estimate. The amount of ash released would fill 450,000 standard dump trucks. A TVA spokesperson said that tests show elevated levels of lead and thallium in water near the breach. The Environmental Protection Agency reported that “very high” levels of arsenic were found in a water sample collected from the affected area and that several heavy metals have also been found in quantities “slightly above drinking water standards.” The sludge has flowed into the Emory River, a tributary of the Tennessee River, which provides drinking water to millions of people downstream in Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky.

The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

Non-commercial news needs your support

We rely on contributions from our viewers and listeners to do our work.
Please do your part today.
Make a donation
Top