TVA Dike Bursts Flooding 15 Houses

A retention pond wall collapsed early Monday morning at a power plant run by TVA, releasing a mixture of water and ash that flooded 15 homes nearby.

The 40-acre pond was used by the Tennessee Valley Authority as a containment area for ash generated by the coal-burning Kingston Steam Plant in Harriman, about 50 miles west of Knoxville, said TVA spokesman Gil Francis.

An earthen wall gave way just before 1:00am, flooding the road and railroad tracks leading to the plant.

No one was seriously injured or needed to be taken to the
hospital, said Howie Rose, the director of the Roane County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.

Investigators are still trying to determine exactly what caused the flood, but he said heavy rains and freezing temperatures may be to blame.

Knoxville-based TVA supplies electricity to 8.8 million consumers in Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.