The AP is reporting that there was recently a massive coal ash spill in Tennesse. If you are anything like me, the first thing you asked upon hearing the news was, what the hell is coal ash?

The AP has the answers:

More than a billion gallons of coal fly ash, a byproduct of burning coal, spilled Monday when the dike burst on a retention pond at the Kingston Fossil Plant. The spill covered 300 acres with sludge in Harriman, about 35 miles west of Knoxville. It dumped a mix of ash and water in the Emory River, causing residents of nearby Kingston to worry about their drinking water.

TVA has said the water is safe to drink.

Three homes were destroyed and 42 property owners had damage of some kind, according to Roane County emergency management officials.

Crystell Flinn’s home and all her belongings were swept away by the ash slide, only three days before Christmas. Now, she and the rest of her family are living in a hotel paid for by TVA.

Kilgore said TVA is providing for the short-term needs of the three families whose homes were destroyed, but Flinn said there is nothing to return to.

“It looks like a tsunami,” Flinn said. “It’s not like they can scoop it up and scrape it off.”

The BBC News also has this:

Apparently, however, even though this mess supposed is safe and non toxic and peachy fine ok–two activists were arrested for simply attempting to photograph and document the damage. Which makes me think that there’s something more going on–that the damage will be something we’re going to hear about for years to come.