KINGSTON, Tenn. (WVLT) -- One year ago, on Dec. 22, 2008, some Roane County residents woke to one of largest environmental disasters in our nation's history.

About 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash spilled out of a retention pond near TVA's Kingston Fossil Plant.

The ash covered fields and front yards, dumped into the Emory River, and knocked homes off foundations.

There were no serious injuries, but 365 days later, the lives of residents are forever changed by the disaster that happened in just seconds.

"I lost every neighbor that we had," says Phyllis Ellis, a Swan Pond Road resident.

Ellis is one of the last Swan Pond residents left behind after the coal ash spill on December 22nd, 2008.

Most of her neighbors took the buyout from TVA, but not Ellis and her family. These are her roots..

"When TVA comes in and they offer you for your property, they offer you want they want to offer you," she says. "It's not what you've worked your whole life to gain."

"They say well here's $200,000. Leave," Roane County resident Thomas Ryan says. "You know, and if I die two years from now and I won't be able to get a dime because you gotta sign a disclosure."

After 20 years in service for our country, he calls East Tennessee home. But talk about the ash spill, and he gets emotional

"fight for my country, and I don't even-- ya know-- this is more important than my 20 years in the military, and these people don't care," Ryan says.

Both Ellis and Ryan are concerned about what staying is doing to their health.

"The trains, the trucks, the dust in the air," Thomas lists.

"I've never had to take allergy medicine before in my life, ever, and now I am having to start allergy medication," Ellis says.

TVA says they're making "good progress" on the projected $1.2 billion cleanup. They say all the ash will be out of the Emory River by spring.

But Thomas says, "It's just as worse (sic) today as it was 365 days ago."

"This year is the same as last year," Ellis complains. "We're still sitting in the same situation. This Christmas in still overshadowed by this devastation, we live it."

The EPA is still trying to figure out whether to classify coal ash as hazardous waste, which is a decision that's been delayed until next year. Meanwhile, TVA faces hundreds of lawsuits. The deadline to file suit was Dec. 21, 2009.

Tuesday, the Tennessee Department of Health completed its health assessment of the spill site. You can find that report HERE