In the early morning hours of Dec. 22, 2008, the north dike at TVA's Kingston Fossil Plant collapsed, spewing an estimated 5.4 million cubic yards of ash and sludge into nearby homes and farmland. Some of the debris also made its way into the Emory River. Since then, TVA and other agencies, like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, continue working on the recovery effort.