A few days before Christmas in 2008, a six-story tall, 84-acre mound of coal ash — a byproduct of burning coal — collapsed at the Kingston Fossil Plant in Roane County, Tenn. The toxic sludge burst through a retaining embankment, knocked houses of their foundations and tossed cars around like toys. All in all, a billion gallons of toxic sludge filled the Emory River and 300 acres of the surrounding community of Kingston.
In his new book Valley So Low, writer Jared Sullivan examines the spill, the years long cleanup and its aftermath. Although TVA officials told the public the coal ash was not toxic, many of the workers who toiled to remove the waste from the area eventually became sick. The book focuses on one small-time attorney and the legal battle that ensued over whether TVA and Jacobs Engineering, the company it contracted to remediate the site, should be held responsible.
Guest: Jared Sullivan, writer and author of Valley So Low: One Lawyer's Fight for Justice in the Wake of America's Great Coal Catastrophe
Host: Demetria Kalodimos
Producers: Steve Haruch and Andrea Tudhope
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