After years of foot dragging, Alabama Power is taking a small step to deal with the potentially dangerous coal ash pond at one of its power plants. It’s a slow, incremental step. The Alabama Power ash ponds remain in a protracted dispute among the utility, state regulators, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The Birmingham-based, Southern Company utility announced last month that it will increase removing ash from the 527-acre coal slurry pond at its 3,426-MW, seven-unit (two legacy coal units and five gas-fired generators) James M. Barry coal-and-gas plant in Bucks, Ala., on the west bank of the Mobile River. The utility has a contract with Utah-based Eco Material Technologies to dewater and use the coal ash as aggregate in construction materials, including concrete.
Eco Material will build and operate an on-site processing facility, expected to be in service by January 2026. According to Alabama Power, “Millions of tons of coal ash are expected to be harvested from Plant Barry and recycled….” The company says it has already recycled “more than 12 million tons of coal ash” from its Gaston, Gorgas, and Miller coal fired plants.
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