STEVENSON, Ala. (AP) - The Tennessee Valley Authority says a waste pond at its Widows Creek power plant in northeast Alabama has ruptured but the spill is now contained.

TVA spokesman John Moulton said the leak in the pond was discovered at about 6 a.m. at the plant near Stevenson, Ala.

He said most of the material from the leak flowed into a settling pond at the plant site but some spilled into Widows Creek.

The federal utility says the leak of what it described as gypsum has stopped and it is repairing the pond.

TVA spokesperson Gil Francis who is at the plant says Gil Francis a a de-watering pipe is to blame.
A pipe used to pull the water out of the gypsum storage pumps.

Francis says it's "inert & harmless."

It doesn't have an estimate on much material spilled and the cause of the failure is under investigation.

A Dec. 22 rupture at a TVA plant in Tennessee poured out 1 billion gallons of toxic-laden coal ash.

To read more about the plant, click here.

To read TVA's Statement on the spill, click here.