Tenn. Ash Spill Cleanup Slow; Cause Still Unknown

Two small, localized problems with the dikes were found in 2003 and 2006, according to the utility's inspector general. Otherwise, state inspectors found no deficiencies in August, and a visual inspection the afternoon before the spill turned up no problems.

TVA officials noted immediately after the spill that the temperature dropped to 14 degrees that night. President and CEO Tom Kilgore said 4.9 inches of rain fell in December — almost twice as much as normal — which could have added significant weight to the pile.

Even so, the spill could have been worse. Just more than half of the 9.5 million cubic yards of ash the site holds spilled. Kingston has the largest ash pile of any of TVA's 11 coal-fired power plants.

To date, TVA has rebuilt roads and railroad tracks, restored utilities, offered compensation to victims, opened community outreach centers and public document rooms, begun dredging and awarded a contract to ship about half the spilled ash to an Alabama landfill. The cleanup cost could reach $1 billion.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is overseeing the cleanup. Anda Ray, TVA's top environmental executive, said the agency is working to get the ash out of the river by next spring to prevent it from being carried downstream during a storm.