Originally Posted by cmac2012

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/23/tennessee.sludge.spill/index.html?imw=Y&iref=mpstoryemail

One wonders how many earthen dams are heading towards the bursting stage. This is the dark side of American economic life. We produce bundles of electricity that we absolutely have to have and we shunt part of the cost of producing that electricity off to the side -- in this case, the gynormous lake of toxic muck located above nearby waterways.

But then, there's always something below, the ocean if nothing else.

This is not good. Not good at all. And it's far from the first time it's happened. Cyanide leech pond containment dams have failed in the past, as well as other coal sludge ponds.