More than 1,300 coal ash impoundments — similar to the one that burst last month and spilled 1 billion gallons of toxic sludge into Tennessee rivers — exist in the U.S. and are largely unregulated and unmonitored, The New York Times reports. Located in 46 states, the coal ash dumps contain cancer-
ash spill in Tennesseecausing heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, and mercury. The dumps and impoundments are not regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and have contaminated drinking water at 63 sites in 24 states, the Times reports. The ash is the residue from coal-burning power plants, and the volume of the material produced each year has grown from 90 million tons in 1990 to 131 million tons in 2007, in part because better air pollution controls now capture more of the ash. The Dec. 22 spill at a Tennessee Valley Authority site has choked parts of two rivers with sludge, threatening water supplies and killing fish, as shown in this video from the advocacy group, Appalachian Voices.
ash spill in Tennessee