Utility to pay Tennessee coal ash victims $27.8M

[unhappycamper]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_COAL_ASH_SPILL_VAOL-?SITE=VANOV&SECTION=STATE&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Utility to pay Tennessee coal ash victims $27.8M
By TRAVIS LOLLER
Associated Press
Aug 1, 6:23 PM EDT

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The nation's largest public utility has agreed to pay $27.8 million to settle claims from Tennessee property owners who suffered damages from a huge, 2008 spill of toxin-laden coal ash sludge that drew national attention to coal ash and its toxic contaminants.

The spill happened when a containment dike burst at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston Fossil Plant, releasing more than 5 million cubic yards of ash from a storage pond. The sludge flowed into a river and spoiled hundreds of acres in a riverside community 35 miles west of Knoxville.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Varlan ruled in 2012 that TVA was liable for the spill. He wrote in his opinion that if TVA had followed its own policies, the problems that led to the dike failure would have been investigated and addressed.

The settlement with more than 800 property owners was announced on Friday. Varlan still has to approve it.

[Faux pas]

1. I don't think that's enough

they should be fined right out of business.

I'm always wondering where all those rich folks plan to live when mother earth no longer supports life?