TVA completes coal ash excavation at Kingston Fossil Plant

Tennessee Valley Authority TVA Kingston coal-fired Fossil power plant coal ash spill 2008 cleanup

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) announced Friday it has removed the last of the ash from a 2008 spill that released 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash sludge at the Kingston Fossil Plant.

The excavation of the final ash on site was one of two milestones reached in the recovery project. The company also placed a liner over the failed cell, a significant step in the process of closing the cell by late 2014.

The cleanup process, which is expected to be completed by early 2015, is estimated to cost around $1.1 billion dollars. Workers removed more than 3 million cubic yards of ash from the middle embayment and areas north of the cell. The ash will be covered and permanently stored on site inside an earthquake-resistant, reinforced wall tied into bedrock up to 70 feet deep.

Although ash still remains on the bottom of two rivers near the plant, TVA has implemented a long-term monitoring plan to assess the ecological health of the river system.

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