KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- Hundreds of acres of land are covered in sludge after a dike failed early Monday morning in Roane County, Tenn. near TVA's Kingston Fossil Plant, known locally as the Kingston Steam Plant.

Water, sludge and boulders barreling into an area around the Kingston plant.

There were no major injuries, but 12 homes suffered damage, and three of them are are uninhabitable.

Cleanup will take weeks, but it is beginning.

TVA officials believe the recent rain and temperature changes could be why the edge of the dike collapsed, but they're learning about new problems.

In the dark of the night the damage was not clear, but with the first phone call to TVA they knew it was bad. The first call was from a man calling to get his neighbor some help.

TVA President and CEO Tom Kilgore says, "His house was pushed off the foundation and out into the road."

Once daylight arrived, a bird's-eye view made the damage obvious.

Kilgore says, "This ash pond was about 70 acres and we estimate it now covers an area probably three times, so about 200 acres."

TVA says the job must be done safely and carefully.

EMA officials are now concerned about a 24-inch high pressure sewage line where there's bubbling above ground.

Howie Rose with the Roane County Emergency Management Agency says, "We don't want it to be breached when the debris management helps, so we want to make sure the proper precautions are taken to keep that from happening."

But the sludge from the ash pond is also redirecting the water from a gravity-fed spring.

Rose says, "We've got two homes particularly that have called 911 and reported both (problems) on Swan Pond Circle."

Authorities are asking that anyone in the area who gets their water from the Swan Pond spring in the Swan Pond area to boil it before using it until further notice.

Meanwhile, TVA officials are keeping a constant check of the nearby river as they take water samples for testing.

Kilgore says, "There are levels of chemicals in there that we are concerned about. We don't think it's any immediate of danger, because most of that is contained. But that's why we have samplings folks. We'll continue to look at that."

But returning the 200-acre ash pond back to the 70 acres it once was will not be done overnight.

Kilgore says, "We're looking at cleaning up the road, but it's going to be several weeks before we can expect this road to be open."

Kilgore says their diverting the ash into another pond, but the coal needed to run the plant could be a problem. With rail lines now blocked by sludge, he says they have a 50 to 60 day supply of coal on the ground, but it will take weeks to get things cleaned up.

If you have been affected by the sludge-slide, TVA says you should call their helpline at 865-717-4006.

To listen to 911 calls made early Monday morning to report the sludge-slide, CLICK HERE (mp3, 11.56MB).

View images submitted to VolzEYE.com HERE.

Submit your own images to VolzEYE.com HERE.

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PREVIOUSLY FILED STORY:

KINGSTON, Tenn. (WVLT) -- As the sun came up in Roane County, the extent of the devastation of a sludge slide was evident after a dike broke, blanketing hundreds of acres around the TVA Kingston Steam plant with a mixture of ash and water that knocked at least one home into the middle of a nearby road just after midnight Monday morning.

There were no fatalities and no serious injuries, but at least three homes are unlivable just days before Christmas.

It's a huge mess that's going to take a long time to cleanup.

TVA engineers are inspecting the scene from on the ground from the air, and they're finding out that there's a lot of work to be done, and it won't be easy.

In some places, the sludge and debris was piled 20 feet high.

Earlier officials said 15 homes were damaged, but they now say 12 homes were impacted by the sludge, including three that are uninhabitable because of major structural damage and mud.

Even a Norfolk Southern locomotive and engine got stuck on the tracks, but TVA CEO Tom Kilgore says that train was removed before noon Monday.

Roane County EMA director Howie Rose says, "At approximately 12:30 this morning we had a 9-1-1 reports of a mudslide in the Swan Pond and Swan Pond Circle area."

A dike had broken on an ash containment pond at the TVA Fossil Plant, also known as the TVA Steam Plant, in Kingston.

A wall of water and sludge from the 40-acre pond caused widespread damage for a half mile.

TVA spokesman Gil Francis says, "We've had about five inches of rain, and we think that perhaps the rain and the freezing temperatures may be a contributing factor to the ash pond slide."

Rescuers are thankful that a slide of this magnitude didn't take any lives, and there were only two minor injuries -- two people rescued from a home knocked off its foundation -- and they don't need to be hospitalized.

TVA engineers are trying to figure out what to do next.

TVA President and CEO Tom Kilgore says, "We're doing several things, establishing water sampling in the river so we know what's migrating downstream we know what's in that water, then we're looking to clean up the road."

Cleanup could take weeks or months.

The ash is a byproduct of burning coal, and it goes into these ponds when where it stays. The pond itself was about the size of 30 football fields.

TDEC is on the scene and we know the EPA was notified.

The fossil plant has remained operational throughout this, but they only have about 50 to 60 days worth of coal on hand, and the train tracks used to bring the plant's fuel is covered in sludge. That means the plant will have to stretch their supply of coal to make it last, Kilgore says.

If you have been affected by the sludge-slide, TVA says you should call their helpline at 865-717-4006.

To listen to 911 calls made early Monday morning to report the sludge-slide, CLICK HERE (mp3, 11.56MB).

View images submitted to VolzEYE.com HERE.

Submit your own images to VolzEYE.com HERE.

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PREVIOUSLY FILED STORY:

KINGSTON, Tenn (WVLT) – As many as fifteen homes were damaged, but there are no reported fatalities and only minor injuries after a dike on an ash retention pond at the TVA Fossil Plant in Roane County gave way early Monday morning.

The pond contained over 40 acres of water and ash, and when the dike gave way, what resulted was an ash slide, according to TVA spokesperson Gil Francis.

The call came in around 12:40 AM from Swan Pond Road at Swan Pond Circle Road.

Two people had to be rescued from a partially collapsed home in the neighborhood near the retention pond, but those two did not require hospital treatment, according to Roane County Emergency Management Director Howie Rose.

"We've moved from a rescue operation to a recovery operation," said Tennessee Emergency Management Agency spokesperson Jeremy Heidt. "All people are accounted for, there are no major injuries, and no fatalities."

A shelter has been set up at Roane State Community College for residents of the fifteen homes. At 3:30 a.m., Heidt said it was still unclear how many people were headed to the shelter.

Crews were planning to wait until daybreak to further assess the situation and begin the cleanup.

"The dike on pond #2 in the ash containment area failed," TVA spokesperson Gil Francis said. "We do believe the excess December rains and freezing and unfreezing weather may have had something to do with it, but we'll get a closer assessment at daybreak."

Francis says the ash is a byproduct of the burning of coal and is contained in the ponds.

Rose says damage at the fifteen homes ranges from minor to partial collapse. He said daylight would give them a better picture of how long cleanup operations could take.

Heidt said much of the damage will probably be flood-related.

The TVA Fossil plant in Kingston continues normal operations at this hour, according to Francis.

Volunteer TV News has a full crew on the scene and will begin LIVE coverage on Volunteer TV News East Tennessee This Morning at 5:30 a.m. Coverage will continue all morning with first pictures after daybreak.

Volunteer TV's Pete Michaels hopes to be over the scene in the early morning hours. You can see aerial video from Pete, ONLY on WVLT.

Stay with Volunteer TV News and VolunteerTV.com for continued coverage of this developing news story.