WYSH AM 1380 Anderson County's Classic Hit Country!
Anderson County Commission Chairman, and District 1 Commissioner, Tracy Wandell announced Monday that TVA will be holding a pair of public open houses next week where citizens can learn more about the planned closure of the Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton.
The first meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 16th at the Oak Ridge YWCA (located at 1606 Oak Ridge Turnpike), and on Thursday, July 18th at Claxton Elementary School (located at 2218 Clinton Highway). Both meetings will be held from 5 to 7 pm.
Attendees will see the presentation that was shared with public officials and the media during recent lunch-and-learn, and media briefing events. They will also be able to ask questions of the TVA staff in attendance in an open house format. There will also be information about the ongoing Environmental Investigation Plan and current schedule for environmental studies at the Bull Run site.
Monday’s announcement comes after TVA last week, announced that it has completed a final Supplemental Environmental Assessment and a Finding of No Significant Impact dealing with the pending closure of Bull Run. Earlier this year, the TVA Board of Directors voted to close the coal-fired plant by the end of 2023.
The reports, issued July 2nd, contain information about TVA’s plans going forward, including an interim plan to close the main ash impoundment in place and turn a section of the impoundment into a temporary process water basin. That basin collects surface water from rain runoff, snowmelt, and the groundwater underneath the earth’s surface. This interim solution would be in place until a permanent decision is made on the management of the underlying coal combustion residuals, according to TVA.
The current stilling pond would be permanently closed, with ash removed to an existing onsite landfill, and turned into the permanent process water basin. Stilling ponds are defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “a depression in a channel or reservoir deep enough to reduce the velocity or turbulence of the flow.”
Details are included in a final Supplemental Environmental Assessment issued on July 2, along with a Finding of No Significant Impact. Those documents are available at www.tva.com/nepa.
TVA has not made any final decisions on permanent closure of the main ash impoundment at Bull Run. TVA is conducting an environmental investigation at the site under the direction of the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, which will help evaluate how coal combustion residuals are managed at the Bull Run. Details of that study are available at www.tva.com/tdec.
