TVA to hold meeting on switching to dry coal ash system

March 9 -- A public meeting will be held next week by the Tennessee Valley Authority as the company looks to move away from a wet coal ash storage system to a dry system at the Kingston Fossil Plant.

The meeting to accept comments on the plan will be held 5:30-8 p.m. March 16 at Roane County High School in Kingston.

A containment pond for wet coal ash failed at the Kingston plant in December 2008, sending 5 million cubic yards of water and coal fly ash into the surrounding area, destroying three homes and damaging nine others. Through 2009, TVA has spent $231 million to clean up the spill from the coal ash pond. Cleanup costs for the spill are currently estimated to be between $933 million and $1.2 billion. In its 2009 annual report, the TVA noted 14 lawsuits connected to the spill have been filed in federal court.

TVA announced in July that it would change all of its wet coal combustion byproduct impoundments to dry, with the first conversion taking place at the Kingston plant. Company representatives will discuss information on air, water, solid waste, transportation and project management.

A draft of the conversion plan is available at www.tva.com/environment/reports/. Comments will be accepted at the public meeting or through the Web site through April 4.

Contact Waste & Recycling News reporter Amanda Smith-Teutsch at 330-865-6166 or asmith-teutsch@crain.com