If you still haven’t been able to wrap yourself around what it means to have more than 1 BILLION GALLONS of coal ash full of heavy metal and chemicals flood, flow, crash and destroy everything around you, as it did for the residents of Harriman, Tennessee three days before Christmas, first check out these photos by NASA, from before and after:
Before:
After – the paler blue indicates the extent and location of now-polluted water:
And if those images are still too abstract, the ones in this video, that show life on the water in what was a typically gorgeous part of Appalachia in Tennessee, before and after the spill, will disabuse you still:
On Thursday, 1/8/09, there was a hearing on Capitol Hill regarding this disaster and supposedly the TVA chief was worked over hard. But the state elected officials, like senior US Senator Lamar Alexander? He couldn’t be bothered – he is actually on the committee. But he needed to attend a congressional GOP retreat instead.
Really makes you feel like the people you voted for care, huh?
NB: And if you think you’re safe, think again.