INSTITUTE INDEX
Compiled by the Institute for Southern Studies

• Size of the coal ash sludge pond that broke at TVA’s Kingston power plant on Dec. 22: 40 acres

• Estimated amount of coal ash sludge that spilled from the pond: 1.1 billion gallons

• Rank of the incident among U.S. environmental disasters in terms of waste spilled: 1

• Land covered by the sludge: 300 acres

• Depth of the sludge at its highest point: 6 feet

• Number of properties damaged: 42

• Factor by which arsenic levels found in samples taken two miles downstream from the spill exceeded safe drinking water limits: 30

• Days it took before authorities issued a notice advising residents not to touch the waste or drink water from affected wells and springs: 7

• Number of breaches in the same ash pond over the past six years: 2

• Tons of coal combustion waste produced each year by US coal plants: 129 million

• Rank of coal combustion waste among top waste streams in the US: 2

• Number of federal regulations governing coal combustion waste: 0

• Year EPA last considered regulating coal combustion waste: 2000

• According to EPA, number of times the risk of getting cancer from coal ash lagoons exceeds safety standards: 10,000

• Number of sites around the country that the EPA says have proven damage from coal ash: 24

• Number of US power plants dumping more coal waste into ponds then the one that failed at Kingston: 22

All sources on file with the Institute for Southern Studies; for more information, e-mail sue@southernstudies.org.