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KINGSTON, Tenn. — What may be the nation’s largest spill of coal ash lay thick and largely untouched over hundreds of acres and waterways Wednesday after a dam broke this week.
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. Residents spent Christmas Eve worried about their health and their property.
The spill occurred at the Kingston Fossil Plant, a power plant on the banks of the Emory River.
“They’re giving their apologies, which don’t mean very much,” said Holly Schean, a waitress whose home had been swept off its foundation when millions of cubic yards of ash breached a retaining wall Monday morning.
