TVA Loading Extra Train Cars to Expedite Ash Disposal at Kingston

The Tennessee Valley Authority is streamlining its disposal of coal ash from its Kingston plant. That’s the site of a massive cleanup effort where TVA spilled some 5.4 million cubic yards of ash sludge one year ago. Wet weather had limited how much of that ash trains could carry to a landfill in Alabama.

TVA is dredging ash out of the Emory River 24 hours a day, six days a week. Deputy Program Manager Katherine Nash says the train that hauls that ash away each day can’t carry nearly as much as the dredging operation produces.

“Dredging production is higher than what we can ship off site. I mean, we’re averaging probably 15,000 cubic yards a day, and we ship off site probably about 10,000 thousand tons a day.”

Nash says part of the problem is that workers can’t load the train on days when it rains. So the solution is to load more cars each day than the train can haul off. That leaves extra cars already loaded and able to ship even on days that it rains.

The number of cars each train pulls is up from 85 to 110. TVA plans to finish dredging the river by next spring, but even so, Nash estimates shipping will continue through the end of next year.

EXTRA:

TVA Kingston – Photo by Daniel Potter, 17 December, 2009

See this week’s feature story on the ash spill’s first anniversary here – includes new photos and aerial views.