Closure of Coal Combustion Residual Impoundments

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has released a Record of Decision (ROD) for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to address the closure of coal combustion residual (CCR) impoundments at its coal-fired power plants.

CCRs are byproducts produced from the combustion of coal or the control of combustion emissions and include fly ash, bottom ash and other materials. The purpose of this EIS is to support the implementation of TVA’s goal to eliminate all wet CCR storage at its coal plants by closing CCR impoundments across the TVA system, and to assist TVA in complying with EPA’s CCR Rule.

This EIS programmatically considers the impacts of the two primary closure methods: (1) Closure-in-Place and (2) Closure-by-Removal. The document is divided into two parts. Part 1 is a programmatic analysis that should generally be applicable to any CCR impoundment in the TVA system. Part 2 is an analysis of 10 site-specific ash impoundment closures and integrates the findings and conclusions of the programmatic document in Part 1.

Public and Agency Coordination

TVA issued a Notice of Intent to prepare the EIS and accepted scoping comments for 34 days. The Draft EIS was made available for formal public comment from December 30, 2015, until March 9, 2016. During that period, TVA hosted 10 open house meetings in coal plant communities to allow the public to discuss the draft EIS and provide comments. TVA has addressed all substantive comments received during the comment period in the Final EIS.

Although not required, TVA accepted comments on the Final EIS for 30 days from June 10, 2016 until July 9, 2016.

Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision

• Final EIS Part 1
• Final EIS Part 2– Allen Fossil Plant
• Final EIS Part 2 – Bull Run Fossil Plant
• Final EIS Part 2 – Colbert Fossil Plant
• Final EIS Part 2 – John Sevier Fossil Plant
• Final EIS Part 2 – Kingston Fossil Plant
• Final EIS Part 2 – Widows Creek Fossil Plant
• Record of Decision

Other Project Documents

Notice of Intent (PDF, 112 kb)

Groundwater Reports

• Bull Run Fossil Plant 1 – August 2015
• Bull Run Fossil Plant 2 – August 2015
• Colbert Fossil Plant – April 2015
• Cumberland Fossil Plant – July 2015
• Gallatin Fossil Plant – September 2015
• John Sevier Fossil Plant – April 2014
• Johnsonville Fossil Plant 1 – September 2015
• Johnsonville Fossil Plant 2 – September 2015
• Kingston Fossil Plant – June 2014
• Kingston Fossil Plant – September 2015
• Paradise Fossil Plant – July 2015
• Shawnee Fossil Plant – April 2015
• Shawnee Fossil Plant – May 2015
• Widows Creek Fossil Plant – November 2015

Contact

For more information about the environmental review or to request a printed or digital copy of the documents, contact:

Ashley Farless
NEPA Specialist

[email protected]
1101 Market Street, BR 2C-C
Chattanooga, TN 37402