"NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Valley Authority is liable for a huge spill of toxin-laden sludge in 2008 in Tennessee, a federal judge ruled Thursday."

"The decision is a victory for hundreds of plaintiffs who sued after a containment dike at TVA's Kingston Fossil Plant burst in 2008. About 5 million cubic yards of ash spilled out of a storage pond, flowed into a river and spoiled hundreds of acres in a riverside community 35 miles west of Knoxville.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Varlan said in a written opinion that TVA was negligent in its conduct and will be liable for damages that will have to be proven in the next phase of the ongoing lawsuits."

Kristin M. Hall reports for the Associated Press August 23, 2012. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"TVA Held Responsible for Massive Coal Ash Spill" (Nashville Tennessean) [3]

"TVA At Fault for Huge Pre-Christmas Ash Slide in 2008" (Louisville Courier-Journal) [4]