Lynn L. Bergeson, “EPA Targets Electric Utilities,” Chemical Processing, November 2009.

Approximately 5.4 million cubic yards, or 1.1 billion gallons, of coal ash from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) plant near Knoxville, Tenn., in December 2008 flooded some 300 acres of land, damaging property, polluting waterways, and killing fish. TVA will likely spend more than $500 million and perhaps as much as $1 billion dollars on the cleanup, says the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The TVA debacle was EPA’s wake-up call for potential hazards presented by coal ash staged in some 584 units at approximately 219 domestic electric utilities.