Be INFORMED

Friday, December 26, 2008

Tennessee Coal Ash Spill Bigger Than Thought

   From NYTimes

A coal ash spill that blanketed residential neighborhoods and contaminated nearby rivers in Roane County, Tenn., earlier this week is more than three times larger than initially estimated, the Tennessee Valley Authority said on Thursday.

Coal ash, a byproduct of burning coal, contains toxic heavy metals like arsenic, lead and selenium that can cause cancer and neurological problems.

Authority officials initially said that about 1.7 million cubic yards of wet coal ash had spilled when the earthen retaining wall of an ash pond breached, but on Thursday they released the results of an aerial survey that showed the actual amount was 5.4 million cubic yards, or enough to flood more than 3,000 acres one foot deep. The amount now said to have been spilled is larger than the amount the Authority initially said was in the pond, 2.6 million cubic yards...

The spill occurred at the Kingston Fossil Plant, one of the authority's largest electrical generating sites, located on the banks of the Emory River about 40 miles west of Knoxville.

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Obama Is Most Admired Man In America

   First he gets selected as  " Person of the year " by Time, and now, according to a new USAToday/Gallup Poll, Americans have selected President-elect Barack Obama as the man they admire most in the world. Is Obama not on one hell of a roll, or what? 

POLL

It is the second most admired man by Americans that gets my ass, though. George Bush comes in second. WTF? This just goes to show you that, even after 8 years of crime and treason by this administration, we still have some pretty stupid folks who support this asshole.

President Bush falls to a distant second after seven years as the most-admired man.

Hillary Rodham Clinton leads the list of most-admired woman, a spot she's held for 13 of the past 16 years — as first lady, then New York senator and now Obama's designate for secretary of State. A newcomer is second: Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who wasn't well-known nationally until Republican presidential candidate John McCain chose her as his running mate in August.

  Palin in second place behind Clinton? If that is the best that we can do, we are in some serious trouble in the future.