Environmental attorney Sanders says TVA fly ash sludge spill may be largest environmental disaster of its kind in USA.

TVA’s massive coal ash spill in eastern Tennessee may be the largest environmental disaster of its kind in the United States. Indeed, TVA is now admitting the spill was more than three times as large as initially estimated according to TVA’s updated survey of the colossal mess.

Faced with the bright lights of international news coverage, TVA now estimates that more than a billion gallons of coal fly ash, a byproduct of burning coal, spilled when an earthen dike burst on a retention pond at the Kingston Fossil Plant. The spill covered 300 acres with sludge in Harriman, about 35 miles west of Knoxville.

More worrisome to many, a mixture of fly ash and water spilled in the Emory River, causing residents of nearby Kingston to worry about the safety of their drinking water. To no one’s surprise, TVA has said the water is safe to drink.

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation said last week that the mixture of coal fly ash and water didn't pose an immediate risk to residents unless they ingested it. Elevated contaminant levels were found in water samples in the immediate area of the spill, but not around the intake for the Kingston Water Treatment Plant, which supplies drinking water to residents, Tennessee officials told residents.

Because of the potential health risks from heavy metals in the sludge, TVA is taking water samples from the river near the raw water intake for the drinking water plant.