COLBERT COUNTY-The Tennessee Valley Authority is asking for public input on a draft Environmental Assessment that proposes the construction of a buttress at Colbert Fossil Plant, located in Colbert County, Alabama, to further protect one of the coal ash storage areas in the event of a 2,500-year earthquake event.
The draft Environmental Assessment is posted online at www.tva.com/nepa.
Although the likelihood of a seismic event occurring at any given time is very low, TVA takes seriously its responsibility to ensure the stability of the site. Installing the buttress would require TVA to relocate a 1,700-foot stretch of Cane Creek on TVA property, which currently flows along the length of the ash pond’s east dike. Approximately 500 feet of the 6,700-foot dike system on approximately 18 acres of TVA property would be affected under the proposal.
Comments on the draft EA must be received or postmarked no later than July 30, 2021. Comments may be submitted by email at mshigdon@tva.gov or by mail to Matthew Higdon, 400 West Summit Hill Drive, WT 11D, Knoxville, TN, 37902. Please note that any comments received, including names and addresses, will become part of the project administrative record and available for public inspection.
For more information about TVA and its 88-year mission of service to the Tennessee Valley, click here.
Media Release/Scott Fiedler/TVA Media Relations