Disappeared News

by Larry Geller

A huge toxic sludge spill, from a coal plant about 30 times the size of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, buried homes and land near Knoxville, TN on Monday, but so far nothing has appeared in the Advertiser.

This disaster, which may pollute drinking water along the Tennessee River in Tennessee, Alabama and Kentucky, has, of course, raised discussion of whether or not there is a possibility of “clean coal,” and whether president-elect Obama should promote it, as he said he would during his campaign.

What may be the nation’s largest spill of coal ash lay thick and largely untouched over hundreds of acres of land and waterways Wednesday after a dam broke this week, as officials and environmentalists argued over its potential toxicity.

Federal studies have long shown coal ash to contain significant quantities of heavy metals like arsenic, lead and selenium, which can cause cancer and neurological problems. But with no official word on the dangers of the sludge in Tennessee, displaced residents spent Christmas Eve worried about their health and their property, and wondering what to do. [NY Times, Coal Ash Spill Revives Issue of Its Hazards, 12/24/2008]

There’s more on Democracy Now (on Oahu, 10 p.m. channel 56 tonight) or on the web, Spill at Tennessee Coal Plant Creates Environmental Disaster.

Permalink posted by Larry @ 12/24/2008 05:42:00 PM