Cleanup from TVA Coal Ash Disaster Breaks New Ground
To keep the coal ash on-site in Kingston, Stantec devised a unique 12,000-ft slurry wall around the 90-acre perimeter of the coal-ash pond.
Graphic courtesy of Stantec Inc.
The site immediately around the Kingston, Tenn. coal ash plant after the clean-up.
Photos courtesy of TVA
Stantec tested the slurry-wall solution on-site earlier this year to ensure the structure could withstand the pressure of the debris.
Photos and graphic courtesy of Stantec Inc.
The slurry wall will be built in seven segments by Stantec.
Photos and Graphic Courtesy of Stantec Inc.
The coal ash from the Kingston plant spilled into the Emory River.
Photos courtesy of TVA
Five dredges worked 24-hour days to remove the ash from the river.
Photos courtesy of TVA
Efforts to clean up the ash began the day after the spill.
Photos courtesy of TVA
A dike failure in the early morning hours of Dec. 23, 2008, deposited 5.4 million cu yd of coal ash from the Tennessee Valley Authority Kingston plant ash pond.
Photos courtesy of TVA
The ash covered roads and railroads and spoiled 300 acres of land around the plant.
Photos courtesy of TVA
Two and a half years later, the cleanup continues in non-critical areas.
Photo By Pam Radtke Russell
By Jan. 1, 2012, dry coal ash will be blown 2,000 ft from the coal-fired generating units to silos that can hold three days' worth of ash. The coal ash will then be carted to one of the seven or eight new, engineered, lined and permitted landfills that TVA will build in the next 10 years.
Kammeyer says TVA believes it will be prepared for whatever rules come out of EPA or Congress.
“We've made our assumptions, and we're moving forward,” he says. “I think we're in a better position than most utilities. We don't think were different than anyone else, but we had Kinston, so we're doing a little bit more. We don't want this to ever happen again, so we are taking all precautions.”
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