On the heels of another coal ash spill this morning at a TVA plant in Alabama comes word of a second waste pond rupture in East Tennessee about 60 miles from the Kingston disaster.
The Tennessean is reporting that state environmental officials have discovered "black, foul-smelling" muddy sludge flowing into the Ocoee River, world-renowned for whitewater sports and site of Olympic competition during the 1996 Atlanta games.
Apparently, the TVA had no permits and hadn't coordinated with the state environmental regulators about this particular coal ash "wet" dump.
The paper notes the extensive effort over many years to clean the site and the Ocoee River. Fortunately, no injuries are reported but this latest spill has left dead fish in its wake. The fish population, largely absent for 100 years, had been starting to flourish in this part of the Ocoee.
The story quotes a spokesman with the Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association saying that if this dam rupture "had happened during the summer when the river was full of people that could have been a real disaster."
Disaster alright, one after another. Which dam is gonna break next, TVA?