Gypsum slurry spills at TVA plant

KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Gypsum slurry spilled Friday at a Tennessee Valley Authority plant in Alabama, a little more than two weeks after a coal ash spill at another TVA plant.

Also Friday, residents of the area around the Kingston plant in Tennessee filed a class-action lawsuit against the TVA in U.S. District Court in Knoxville, The Tennessean reported. The plaintiffs are seeking $5 million in compensation plus punitive damages and medical and environmental monitoring during the cleanup.

Scott Hughes of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management said TVA puts the size of Friday's spill at 10,000 gallons. Liquid from an upper containment pond spilled into a lower containment pond when a pipeline removing water broke, and the lower pond became overfilled.

TVA officials said some of the slurry got into Widows Creek.

Gypsum is a byproduct of the scrubbing process that removes sulfur dioxide from emissions at coal-burning power plants.

The Tennessee spill involved far more coal ash and damaged about a dozen houses, including some that have subsequently been condemned.