Fri
Jan 9 2009
01:10 pm
A retaining pond has ruptured at TVA's Widows Creek coal-fired power plant in Alabama. TVA says it is contained, but some material reached Widows Creek.
UPDATE: The Chattanooga Times Free Press says it was a leak from a gypsum pond, where limestone used in the SO2 scrubbing process is stored, processed, and sold for wallboard.
UPDATE: TVA Press Release
LEAK AT WIDOWS CREEK GYPSUM CONTAINMENT
January 9, 2009 12:10 PMTVA is investigating a leak from the gypsum pond at Widows Creek Fossil Plant in Stevenson, Alabama, that was discovered before 6 a.m. on Friday, January 9. The leak has stopped.
The leak from the gypsum pond flowed into an adjacent settling pond. Some material overflowed into Widows Creek, although most of the leakage remained in the settling pond. TVA has notified appropriate federal and state authorities.
TVA will perform temporary repairs to the pond.
Gypsum ponds hold limestone spray from TVA’s scrubbers that clean sulfur dioxide (SO2) from coal-plant emissions. Gypsum contains calcium sulfate, which is commonly used in drywall, a commercially sold construction material.
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correction
Not fly ash, but gypsum, according to the press release.
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
Hunter S. Thompson
Yes, just updated that.
Yes, just updated that. More/better info in the Chattanooga paper.
You are fast
Faster than a speeding bullet, etc. blah, blah, blah. :-)
Good work.
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
Hunter S. Thompson
I wonder whether there was a
I wonder whether there was a freeze in Stevenson overnight.
I wonder whether there was a
I wonder whether there was a freeze in Stevenson overnight.
Guess we're still waiting for Gil Francis to get on the scene and report to find out.
I bet there's a sale on
I bet there's a sale on frozen fish in Alabama today.
waiting for Gil Francis TVA
waiting for Gil Francis
TVA was warned last winter that saturated sludge and freezing temperatures can lead to ruptures, so the problem obviously is that environmentalists have been misleading about all this global warming stuff. TVA execs thought there wouldn't be any freezing temperatures anymore. "The environmental community ensured us we had this winter thing licked!"
Clean coal is a lie.
Lets keep holding TVA's and Obama's feet to the fire on the complete and utter fantasy that is "clean coal".
-Sugarfatpie (AKA Alex Pulsipher)
"X-Rays are a hoax."-Lord Kelvin
Just just record rain and freezing and thawing...
At what point should cameras and security personnel be placed at all these TVA ponds?
This happened at 6 a.m.? The big one in Kingston was at 1:00 a.m.. I guess daytime is inconvenient for these disasters.
Is this the work of Dr. Evil?
(link...)
Probably just record rain and freezing and thawing. TVA will tell us.
Are there any investigative
Are there any investigative journalist left in East Tennessee? It's not a gypsum pond, it's a fly ash pond the same product that spilled at Kingston. Fly ash is used to make gypsum, concrete, blocks, and a few other products. It's like saying a chlorine gas cloud is just potable water vapors.
Our local journalist are taking the news release from TVA and not investigating further. It's the easy work for the journalist but the news is usually biased.