Colbert Fossil Plant

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Colbert Fossil Plant is a coal-fired power station owned and operated by Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in Alabama.

The plant was retired in March 2016.

Location

The plant is near the Pickwick Reservoir on the Tennessee River.

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Background

The Colbert power station has five coal-fired generating units and "net dependable generating capacity" of approximately 1,198 megawatts. TVA states that "the plant consumes some 7,200 tons of coal a day." Construction of the Colbert power station commenced in 1951 and was commissioned in 1973. According to the TVA the "plant consumes about 8,900 tons of coal a day."

November 2013: TVA announces plans to retire all units of Colbert

November 14 2013, TVA announced that it will retire all five units of the Colbert plant. The closure date was not specified. TVA also announced retirements at the Widows Creek Fossil Plant and the Paradise Fossil Plant.

In July 2013 TVA announced plans to idle or remove from service units 1-4 starting June 30, 2016. The plans are the result of a 2011 Consent Decree arising out of consolidated litigation brought by several states and environmental groups for violations of the Clean Air Act. Under the decree, TVA was required to notify EPA of its plan for controlling air pollution at units 1-4 by June 30, 2013. Rather than installing new equipment, TVA opted to idle or retire the plants. According to the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, unit 5 of the plant, which operated at only 15% of capacity in 2012, appeared also to be heading toward retirement.

On March 23, 2016, the coal-fired power plant's last unit went offline. The other units were shut down over the previous few weeks. The plant was retired early as the system demand dropped and the coal on site was depleted.

Plant Data

TVA at the Crossroads, produced by Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

• Owner/Parent Company: Tennessee Valley Authority
• Plant Nameplate Capacity: 1,350 MW
• Units and In-Service Dates: 200 MW (1955), 200 MW (1955), 200 MW (1955), 200 MW (1955), 550 MW (1965)
• Location: 900 Colbert Steam Plant Rd., Tuscumbia, AL 35674
• GPS Coordinates: 34.741, -87.849389
• Coal Consumption:
• Coal Source: Dugout Canyon Mine, West Elk Mine, Elk Creek Mine, Bowie No 2 Mine, Black Thunder Mine, North Antelope Rochelle Mine
• Number of Employees:

Emissions Data

• 2006 CO₂ Emissions: 8,312,926 tons
• 2006 SO₂ Emissions: 39,942 tons
• 2006 SO₂ Emissions per MWh:
• 2006 NO_x Emissions: 14,728 tons
• 2005 Mercury Emissions: 220 lb.

Lawsuit

In February 2013, a coalition of environmental groups announced plans to file a lawsuit against TVA alleging that coal ash ponds at the Colbert plant are seeping arsenic, lead, selenium, cadmium, and other toxic heavy metals in to the groundwater below the ponds, and into Cane Creek and the Tennessee River. The groups say sampling around the Colbert plant has found arsenic levels 50 times higher than the state's maximum contaminant level, and that the ash ponds have been leaking pollutants into the surrounding waters for 30 years. TVA said it was reviewing the document.

"High Hazard" Surface Impoundment

In July 2009, TVA reclassified the surface impoundment at Colbert as having High Hazard Potential. The rating applies to sites at which a dam failure would most likely cause loss of human life, but does not assess of the likelihood of such an event. TVA had originally ranked all of its sites as "low" risk, but revised those rankings two weeks after the EPA released its list of 44 "high hazard" coal ash dumps.

Study finds dangerous level of hexavalent chromium at Colbert Plant waste site

A report released by EarthJustice and the Sierra Club in early February 2011 stated that there are many health threats associated with a toxic cancer-causing chemical found in coal ash waste called hexavalent chromium. The report specifically cited 29 sites in 17 states where the contamination was found. The information was gathered from existing EPA data on coal ash and included locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Massachusetts, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virgina and Wisconsin. In Alabama, the TVA Colbert Fossil Plant in Tuscambia and the TVA Widows Creek Fossil Plant in Stevenson were both reported as having high levels of chromium seeping from unlined retention ponds.

According to EPA data, the TVA Colbert Fossil Fuel Plant's coal ash site is unlined. Hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) was reported at the site above 100 ppb (parts per billion) - 5,000 times the proposed California drinking water goals and above the federal drinking water standard.

As a press release about the report read:

Hexavalent chromium first made headlines after Erin Brockovich sued Pacific Gas & Electric because of poisoned drinking water from hexavalent chromium. Now new information indicates that the chemical has readily leaked from coal ash sites across the U.S. This is likely the tip of the iceberg because most coal ash dump sites are not adequately monitored.

Citizen Groups

See also Alabama and coal

• Black Warrior Riverkeeper
• GASP (formerly Alabama First)

Articles and Resources

Sources

• Existing Electric Generating Units in the United States, 2005, Energy Information Administration, accessed Jan. 2009.
• Environmental Integrity Project, "Dirty Kilowatts: America’s Most Polluting Power Plants", July 2007.
• Facility Registry System, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, accessed Jan. 2009.

Related SourceWatch Articles

• Existing U.S. Coal Plants
• Alabama and coal
• Tennessee Valley Authority
• United States and coal
• Coal plant retirements