http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/us/09coal.htmlPlant That Spilled Coal Ash Had Earlier Leak Problems
By JOHN M. BRODER
Published: January 8, 2009
WASHINGTON — The chief executive of the Tennessee Valley Authority, which operates the coal-burning power plant responsible for an enormous flood of coal ash in East Tennessee late last month, acknowledged Thursday that the plant’s containment ponds had leaked two other times in the last five years but had not been adequately repaired.
The official, Tom Kilgore, told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that the authority had found that dikes holding millions of cubic yards of toxic coal ash mixed with water at the authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant in Tennessee had allowed noticeable “seepage” in 2003 and 2005.
The authority chose inexpensive patches rather than a more extensive repair of the holding ponds, possibly contributing to the catastrophic failure on Dec. 22, Mr. Kilgore said.
He said the December breach appeared to have occurred at a different site from the one where the earlier leaks happened, so it was not clear whether more extensive repairs could have prevented the disaster. Nonetheless, he said, “the most expensive solution wasn’t chosen,” adding, “Obviously, that doesn’t look good for us.”
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