Tennessee ash spill worse than thought

A burst dike at a coal-fired power plant in eastern Tennessee spilled millions more cubic yards of ash than originally estimated, officials said Friday, and residents fear the muck coating their neighborhood is endangering the drinking water.

About 5.4 million cubic yards of coal fly ash, a byproduct of burning coal, broke out of a retention pond at the Kingston Fossil Plant, Tennessee Valley Authority spokesman John Moulton said.

The TVA, the nation’s largest utility company, first estimated that Monday’s breach had spilled less than half that amount.

State environmental officials said Friday that their tests found the ash had not caused problems near the water treatment plant.

Moulton said the TVA’s first tests also showed no threat to drinking water. The spill damaged 12 homes and covered 300 acres with sludge in Harriman, about 35 miles west of Knoxville.

“We are cleaning it up,” Moulton said. “That’s where our efforts are focused, and we are making some headway. Both on land and in the water, we are containing it and skimming it off the water.”

Christopher Copeland, a resident whose land is covered with ash and debris, said he was not drinking the local water and was keeping his children inside until he could send them to a relative’s house, “because I don’t feel comfortable with them around here.”

Environmental activists said they too were worried about the drinking water.

An Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman has said some toxic metals could be in the muck, including mercury and arsenic, but EPA tests were not complete. Dead fish were seen floating downstream, but the TVA said that could have been caused by the freezing temperatures that may have contributed to the dike’s bursting.

A news release from the state Department of Environment and Conservation said elevated contaminant levels were present in the immediate area of the spill but not near any drinking water intakes for the plant.

The state found no immediate risk from contact with the ash, as long as it wasn’t eaten, according to the news release.

Environmentalists and the coal industry have argued for years over whether coal ash should be regulated as hazardous waste, which would make it subject to more stringent rules.