More On Coal Ash Devastation:

I said yesterday that the TVA spokespeople were in crisis mode, so truth is the first victim.
Today comes more information from the Power Plant people and, guess what, things are worse than they first reported:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A burst dike at a coal-fired power plant in eastern Tennessee spilled millions more cubic yards of ash than originally estimated, officials said Friday, and residents fear the muck coating their neighborhood is endangering the area's drinking water.

The state, however, said Friday that tests show water entering the local treatment plant is safe.

About 5.4 million cubic yards of coal fly ash, a byproduct of burning coal, broke out of a retention pond at the Kingston Fossil Plant, Tennessee Valley Authority spokesman John Moulton said.

The TVA, which as the nation's largest utility company supplies electricity to 8.8 million people, first estimated that Monday's breach had spilled less than half that amount.

Moulton could not explain the discrepancy but said TVA's first tests showed no threat to the area's drinking water. The spill damaged 12 homes and covered 300 acres with sludge in Harriman, about 35 miles west of Knoxville.

"We are cleaning it up," he said. "That's where our efforts are focused and we are making some headway. Both on land and in the water, we are containing it and skimming it off the water."

Christopher Copeland, a resident whose land is covered in ash and debris, said he is not drinking the local water and is keeping his children inside until he can send them to a relative's house, "because I don't feel comfortable with them around here."