Retention Pond Dike Collapse

Tennessee Flood A dike at an ash retention pond collapsed Monday morning sending water ash and rocks from the forty acre pond over a widespread area.

by CBS/WVLT

Published: Mon, December 22, 2008 - 2:11 pm CST

Emergency Management officials in Roane County, Tennessee say a dike at an ash retention pond collapsed Monday morning (12-22), sending water, ash and rocks from the forty acre pond over a widespread area. No injuries have been reported but emergency officials say more than a dozen homes were damaged when the structure gave way.

An emergency management spokesman said some homeowners had to be rescued. But it appears that everyone has been accounted for and no one sustained any major injuries. The first 9-1-1 calls had begun coming shortly after midnight.

The ash in the pond is a byproduct of Tennessee Valley Authority coal burning operations. TVA President-CEO Tom Kilgore says the cause of the accident is under investigation but the freezing and thawing cycle of the structure may have been a contributing factor. Kilgore says TVA does a full annual inspection of the ash pond containment facilities. Other similar structures will probably be checked again in light of today's accident.

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KxVicious Says:

Mon, Dec 22, 2008 at 11:14 pm

That sucks Debbie and Santa, but the only dikes we have around here can be found at B. Bobs, and the nastiest lake in town is in the middle of our biggest city park!

Santa Claus Says:

Mon, Dec 22, 2008 at 10:11 pm

Check out http://dirtycoaltva.blogspot.com/ and http://www.unitedmountaindefense.org
Dear Readers,
As you are well aware Santa has been actively protesting TVA’s naughtness for the past few weeks. Santa has been monitoring the news media and found out about the ash pond failure at the Kingston Coal Burning Plant. Even though Santa is really busy this time of year he took time out of his schedule to check out the damage first hand. Santa came up with this list of demands on the sleigh ride to Harriman and he expects that TVA will be compliant with his demands.

1. TVA and the State of Tennessee holds multiple public hearings and investigates the bursting coal ash dam.

2. TVA and the State of Tennessee identifies the locations of all the coal ash, what toxins exist in the coal ash, and how it will be cleaned up and safely disposed of.

3. TVA provides public disclosure of all existing coal ash ponds and makes sure each pond receives a current state inspection.

debbie Says:

Mon, Dec 22, 2008 at 6:19 pm

Since 2003 we have tried to get a new school for children at Marsh Fork Elementary in Sundial WV.
WHY?
The school sits 400 yards downstream from a sludge dam at the Goals Coal Plant. This sludge dam holds 2.8 BILLION gallons of slurry. It has been sited for numerous substantial and serious violations that could cause the death of over 995 people downstream, including the over 200 grade school children that attend Marsh Fork Elementary.
Our Governor Manchin has turned his head regarding the safety of our children.
Please visit penniesofpromise.org or http://webpages.charter.net/crmw/permit.htm

This has to stop, theres no such thing as clean coal…..............
We need protection for the people instead of the coal companies..NOW!

KxVicious Says:

Mon, Dec 22, 2008 at 2:58 pm

Mother nature is not happy.