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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.

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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.

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