A combination image created by Thematic Mapper on NASA’s Landsat 5 satellite images, released on January 5, 2009, shows Tennessee’s Kingston Fossil Plant and its surroundings on November 20, 2008, (L) a month before the spill, and December 22, 2008, immediately after the spill. In these false-color images, water appears blue, and sediment-laden water appears light blue. Vegetation appears green, and bare ground and urbanized areas appear pinkish-brown. In the early morning hours of December 22, 2008, the earthen wall of a containment pond at the Kingston Fossil Plant gave way. The breach released 1.3 million cubic meters (1.7 million cubic yards) of fly ash - a coal-combustion waste product captured and stored in wet form. Some of the sludge traveled north through a valley, and some flowed to the east, where it damaged dozens of homes. The spill infiltrated the Emory River, buried some 120 hectares (300 acres) in sludge, and even knocked a nearby home completely off its foundation. REUTERS/NASA/Handout (UNITED STATES). FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS.
REUTERS/HO, HO