Up to the Minute (CBS) - 2008-12-25

Name: Up to the Minute (CBS) - 2008-12-25
Uploaded: 2025-07-31
Duration: 3442 s
Channel: malgent
Description: Read a transcript preview of “Up to the Minute (CBS) - 2008-12-25” from malgent, uploaded on 2025-07-31.

Channel: malgent

Uploaded: 2025-07-31

Duration: PT3442S

Read a transcript preview of “Up to the Minute (CBS) - 2008-12-25” from malgent, uploaded on 2025-07-31.

Transcript preview

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:00] A heck of a mudslide or something just

[0:02] came through our backyard.

[0:04] >> Not a mudslide, a sludge slide. In a

[0:07] retention pond outside a coal burning

[0:08] power plant, sludge suddenly burst

[0:10] through a wall, sending 1.7 million

[0:13] cubic yards of it. Enough to fill 520

[0:16] Olympic size swimming pools into the

[0:19] surrounding neighborhood and into the

[0:21] Emory River. From that spot, it's only 5

[0:23] miles downstream to the Tennessee River,

[0:26] the source of drinking water for

[0:27] millions. Sludge spread over 400 acres,

[0:31] pushing Crystal Flynn's house 30 ft off

[0:33] its foundation. Her family salvaging

[0:35] what they can before the house

[0:37] collapses.

[0:38] >> Can't cry anymore and I'm numb.

[0:42] >> Another worry, all this sludge contains

[0:44] heavy metals like mercury and arsenic,

[0:46] so it's potentially toxic. So far, water

[0:48] tests have come back negative for

[0:50] contamination, but it's still early.

[0:52] >> We're going to have to monitor, continue

[0:54] to monitor to take a look. We don't know

[0:56] how far this is going to spread it.

[0:59] >> Removing sludge will go on for months on

[1:01] land and in the rivers.

[1:03] >> Stuff on the top we're going to skim off

[1:05] and then we're going to go back and

[1:06] dredge that material out.

[1:08] >> But nothing can skim this disaster from

[1:10] Crystal Flynn's home.

[1:11] >> Not like they're going to scoop all this

[1:13] stuff up and the grass is going to still

[1:15] be there, you know. So it's just wiped

[1:18] out.

[1:18] >> Wiped out by a falling mountain of

[1:20] sludge and worried this disaster could

[1:23] get worse. Mark Stman, CBS News,

[1:26] Haramman, Tennessee.

[1:28] >> Thousands of the faithful marked the

[1:30] beginning