larger than the exxon valdez

i don't know if anyone has been paying attention to the kingston TN coal plant disaster that happened a couple of days before christmas. normally this wouldn't be anything more than evidence we need to ween ourselves off of coal as a means for generating electricity. the thing about this particular environmental disaster is that it occured about ten miles from where i was living and working in TN, even less as the crow flys. a massive breach of an earthern dam behind the plant contributed by heavy rains caused coal ash, a byproduct of combustion, to spill into surrounding areas even entering the clinch river, a tributary of the TN river, and incidenly feeds directly into Watts Barr lake, where river ridge environmental is located. initially reports cited that there was little danger to humans and animals alike stating the spill only contaminated 300 million gallons of the waterway. lately reports have become more dire as officals now awknowledge that over one billion gallons of ash spilled into the waterway. there is now speculation on what will happen when the ash, which contains several heavy metals contaiminates the ground water. the plant owned and opporated by tennessee valley authority, one of the largest utility companies has vowed to make things right. even if they do follow through with their promise what will it take for us to realize we need to change?

this is obviously a complicated question since we all use electricity.

http://www.ilovemountains.org/tva-spill/
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/us/27sludge.html