Crews began breaking up large boulders and removing unstable rocks at the rockslide that has closed part of Interstate 40 near the Tennessee line last week. According to Department of Transportation officials, the slide is about 150 feet high and 200-300 feet wide. Governor Bev Perdue made an emergency declaration at the site and is currently seeking federal funding to pay for clean up and repairs to the roadway. Not since 1997 has western North Carolina seen a slide of this magnitude - longer than a football field and the width of a two-car garage.  The cleanup process is underway and it will be a 24/7 operation. Initial damage assessments from the DOT estimate the clean up and repair will cost $7 - $9 million and take at least three months to complete. In the meantime, detours are set up to allow traffic to flow to portions of southwestern North Carolina.