The Tennessee Valley Authority has agreed to pay $27.8 million to settle claims with more than 800 property owners affected by the one of the largest man-made environmental disasters in U.S. history.

On December 22, 2008, the wall of a huge storage pond broke at the TVA power plant in Kingston. The collapse of the earthen dike unleashed a tidal wave of more than one billion gallons of wet ash and sludge in Roane County, much of it falling directly into the Emory River and Clinch River.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Varlan ruled in 2012 that TVA was liable for the spill.

In the first five year after the spill, TVA spent more than $1 billion on the clean-up and recovery. It estimates the total costs to reach $1.2 billion when the project is completed.(WBIR)