The Really Scary Part

TVA's undone Kingston coal ash sequestration system was not even the largest in the country according to a McClatchy report from further south:

Georgia Power plants ranked high nationally for the amount of coal combustion waste released to surface impoundments, according to information from the 2006 Toxic Release Inventory compiled by the Institute for Southern Studies. The TVA Plant Kingston that recently spilled its coal ash pond is included for context.

Plant Scherer: 4th most in U.S. at 4.1 million pounds.

Plant Wansley: 9th most in U.S. at 2.7 million pounds.

Plant Branch: 12th in U.S. at 2.4 million pounds.

(TVA Plant Kingston: 23rd in U.S. at 1.7 million pounds)

Plant Bowen: 25th in U.S. at 1.7 million pounds