Tennessee Coal Ash Disaster - Where is the Outrage?

Beautiful sunny day, crisp cold air.


In case you just woke up from a coma, there was a man-made disaster a couple of weeks in Tennessee where a 40 acre pond of coal ash sludge broke and gushed open. I know that the holidays might have taken precedent over the news, or the tanking economy and diving unemployment, but why this story isn't still on page one is beyond me.

Maybe you remember the Exxon Valdez disaster from 20 years ago (has it been that long?) which people are still talking about because it was such an ecological disaster. In a nut shell, a drunk Captain allowed his ship to crash which spilled 10.8 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound, Alaska. That event was a huge story for years (for good earthly reason) which is pretty familiar to most Americans.


Here we have a man-made ecological disaster that is estimated to be 40-50 times bigger than the infamous Valdez ( that was 40-50, not just 4-5). Of course the follow ups from this disaster are saying that the spill was under estimated.(naturally) But still the news and followups are not even on page one. What the #*@&^%!

This thing is huge, massive, ginormous and where is the outrage? Oops, maybe "clean coal" isn't so clean after all? This is precisely why there is no such thing, as clean coal. From beginning to the tragic end, coal is dirty, unhealthy and toxic. Watch the video and keep in mind that ash is all the left over stuff laden with so many heavy metals and toxic chemicals, lead, mercury and arsenic are the top 3. And this being dumped into a flowing river already contaminating over 50,000 people's drinking water (very under estimated!). Oh my. Remember, we all live down stream?

Now they are talking about lining future ponds because of the toxic chemicals. (Yeah, more plastic) How do you line a 40 acre pond????

In case you are feeling helpless, there is always that email you can send to Washington so here goes. Tell them you want coal plants to stop now and that there is no such thing as clean coal: Spread the Word

With 50% of Americans (yes that is half of us) living within 30 miles of a coal plant, wouldn't you think this disaster would be getting more attention? Where is the outrage?