Earthen Dam bursts on Clinch

[Ram Jack Scott]

oh this is NO BIG DEAL. i mean if you think about it it's only mercury and other heavy metal toxins entering our water ways. if this was a smaller business it would be all over the news. being that it's the mighty government we wont hear much about it until the damage is done.

 

[Fishin Fool]

Ram Jack Scott - 12/23/2008 12:52 PM

oh this is NO BIG DEAL. i mean if you think about it it's only mercury and other heavy metal toxins entering our water ways. if this was a smaller business it would be all over the news. being that it's the mighty government we wont hear much about it until the damage is done.

This is the reality we live with today. Snow fall in Maine gets more coverage than a ecological disaster of this size. All that area destroyed and God knows how much fall out over the next couple of decades as the toxins work their way into the water system. Sad.

 

[Hagen]

Wonder if that little earthquake up there a few weeks ago plus the rain could be faulted? It is odd that the national news media hasn't got thier teeth into this story aswell. I blame Al Qeida.

 

[Gone fishin]

were just a bunch of hillbillys in eastern Tennessee, nobody cares but snow in Maine thats new

 

[Hagen]

http://www.wbir.com/video/default.aspx?aid=74361

 

[hooker771]

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=toxic-ash-pond-collapses

 

[Nickajack Angler]

I've read this and was pretty shocked first reading it... then even now more so seeing the lackluster response to STOP the seepage and washout downstream. So, I took a shot and sent off a "tip" to CNN. Let's see what they'll do when they get a direct tip and report of this incident. I copied this thread for them to review... It'll be interesting to see if any naitonal coverage which would bring the environmentalists down QUICK to get a bigger/better reaction. Heavy lead is no laughing matter. You'd think the water sheds affected would be of greater importance than what appears to be happening thus far. Holidays or not.

 

[tnhooker]

Short term the evidence is visiable with dead fish and discolored water. Long term, this stuff kills the bottom where the food chain begins. We can't see into the future as to how this will affect fish populations especially bottom feeders like cats and saugers.

 

[H-1]

Man that is terrible I wonder how far downstream that will affect . Im glad Maine is not below that

 

[Nickajack Angler]

But what about HUMAN affect? Heavy metals aren't good....

 

[SNUFFY]

most likely the heavy metals will join the even heavier metals (i.e.....uranium, plutonium and all kinds of nasty stuff) already deposited there for the last 65 years with the beginning of the Manhatten Project. There is something like a billion pounds (no exaggeration) of mercury unaccounted for in the watershed of the Oak Ridge Plants. No telling what else....some classified. It`s been leaching into the Clinch River for decades. And heavy metals are just that and just like the radioactive stuff from the Ridge it will soon hit the silt in the bottom and just keep going down. It hasn`t wiped out the river environment yet.

Sure this is somewhat different and I`m sure there will be some acute issues in the short term and some lasting effects for a long period of time. But I imagine with time things will return to some state of normal.

I wouldn`t jump off the bridge yet !

 

[Nickajack Angler]

I just checked and this article was posted in regards to the Kingston Plant dam breaking on CNN.com http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/23/tennessee.sludge.spill/index.html?eref=onion
It was posted 40 min ago...

 

[charlie]

I'm Bprice's gramps and live in Kingston. This afternoon, I drove south on 58 and crossed the Tennessee River. When I looked west at the confluence of the Clinch I saw a grey looking stream merging into the clear Tennesse River water. I stopped at a farmer friend's house just downstream of there and asked if he was worried about his cattle drinking that water. He said no one had advised him about that. Does anyone know what will happen to the fish? I saw lots of dead shad in one picture. How far downstream will it kill fish? Maybe it will settle out before it gets to all those crappie in the Chick. Charlie

 

[Bprice]

Looks like we need to go upriver Gramps. This is really sad.

 

[polo-dog]

That is really bad. Very sorry to hear about what happened. I don't know much about what would be in that ash and I didn't read the whole article. Did it say that there are heavy metals and other toxins in the ash?

 

[bent rod]

I also sent a news tip today to CNN around lunch after reading that not even the local news around Knoxville was not giving this much coverage. I just thought if there is anything in the water, besides ash, people should know it. I hope not.

 

[BassERT]

I heard on local news that this is a bigger environmental impact spill than the Exxon-Valdez!

 

[Nickajack Angler]

I heard that same comparison, but it was different than that BassERT, "the affected area was larger than the Exxon- Valdez... 400 acres"

 

[JDK]

these were posted on east tennessee fishing forum.. man what a disaster makes me sick seeing all these dead fish

http://s385.photobucket.com/albums/oo294/Headstrongtw_album/

 

[Ronnie Garrison]

This made the NYTs today - lots of scary stuff they highlight but no mention of mecury that I can see.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/25/us/25sludge.html?_r=1&th&emc=th