By now anybody paying attention is aware of the massive spill of coal-ash sludge that took place in Roane County, Tennessee earlier this week, dumping a reported 1.7 million cubic yards of toxic sludge into the Emory River, a spill many cited as larger than the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska.
Except that it wasn't 1.7 million cubic yards:
Authority officials initially said that about 1.7 million cubic yards of wet coal ash had spilled when the earthen retaining wall of an ash pond breached, but on Thursday they released the results of an aerial survey that showed the actual amount was 5.4 million cubic yards, or enough to flood more than 3,000 acres one foot deep. The amount now said to have been spilled is larger than the amount the Authority initially said was in the pond, 2.6 million cubic yards.
Link
Yeah, you read that correctly, this miraculous sludge pond actually managed to dump twice as much sludge as it actually held. Apparently, TVA has actually discovered the world's first coal-ash sludge well.
Gotta love TVA:
Hundreds of fish were floating dead downstream from the plant Tuesday, and state and federal agencies have yet to complete water quality testing.
TVA spokesman Gil Francis has said the fish may have died from the freezing cold that contributed to the breach, not pollutants.
Link
Now if there was just something coal-ash sludge was good for besides poisoning land and water and fish and people...
[Update]
Since it dawned on me that not everybody is familiar with the Cumberland Plateau, on the eastern edge of which this plant sits, I thought a few pics, all taken within about 80 miles of it, might provide perspective:
Yes, those are people in the plunge pool...
[Update 2]
Emmasmacker got this email with additional info...