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On April 14, 2011, TVA and North Carolina settled a 5-year-old lawsuit - [[North Carolina v. TVA]] - over TVA emissions from its coal-fired plants. As part of the agreement, TVA agreed to phase out 18 units of its coal plants, including six units at the [[Widows Creek Fossil Plant]], taking all but two offline.<ref>[http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=13375691 "TVA Phasing out Hundreds of Jobs at Coal Plants"] ABC, April 14, 2011.</ref><ref name="TVA">[http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/decrees/civil/caa/tvacoal-fired-cd.pdf "Consent Decree,"] ''North Carolina v. TVA,'' U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville, accessed April 20, 2011</ref> In May 2012, TVA began considering a switch to natural gas for the plant, linked up to a proposed natural gas pipeline from Tennessee through Alabama to Georgia.<ref>Ben Benton, [http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/may/13/TVA-natural-gas-pipeline-jackson-county-for-region/?print "Natural gas pipeline considered for tri-state region,"} Times Free Press, May 13, 2012.</ref>
moved retirement plans
The power station has eight coal-fired generating units and "net dependable generating capacity" of approximately 1,629 megawatts. Construction of the power station commenced in 1950 and was commissioned in 1965. According to the TVA the "plant consumes about 10,000 tons of coal a day."<ref>Tennessee Valley Authority, [http://www.tva.com/sites/widowscreek.htm "Widows Creek Fossil Plant"], Tennessee Valley Authority website, accessed June 2008.</ref>
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As part of the EPA agreement, TVA will invest an estimated $3 to $5 billion on pollution controls, invest $350 million on clean energy projects, and pay a civil penalty of $10 million.<ref>[http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/ab2d81eb088f4a7e85257359003f5339/45cbf1a4262af67b8525787200516dd7!OpenDocument "EPA Landmark Clean Air Act Settlement with TVA to Modernize Coal-Fired Power Plants and Promote Clean Energy Investments / State-of-the-art pollution controls and clean energy technology to provide up to $27 billion in annual health benefits"] EPA, April 14, 2011.</ref>
===Retirement plans for units 1-6===
On April 14, 2011, TVA and North Carolina settled a 5-year-old lawsuit - [[North Carolina v. TVA]] - over TVA emissions from its coal-fired plants. As part of the agreement, TVA agreed to phase out 18 units of its coal plants, including six units at the [[Widows Creek Fossil Plant]], taking all but two offline.<ref>[http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=13375691 "TVA Phasing out Hundreds of Jobs at Coal Plants"] ABC, April 14, 2011.</ref><ref name="TVA">[http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/decrees/civil/caa/tvacoal-fired-cd.pdf "Consent Decree,"] ''North Carolina v. TVA,'' U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville, accessed April 20, 2011</ref> In May 2012, TVA began considering a switch to natural gas for the plant, linked up to a proposed natural gas pipeline from Tennessee through Alabama to Georgia.<ref>Ben Benton, [http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/may/13/TVA-natural-gas-pipeline-jackson-county-for-region/?print "Natural gas pipeline considered for tri-state region,"} Times Free Press, May 13, 2012.</ref>
===November 2013: TVA announces plan to retire unit 8===
On November 14, 2013, TVA announced that unit 8, one of the two remaining units of the plant, would be retired. The agency left the timeframe of the retirement to the discretion of the CEO. TVA also announced retirements at the [[Colbert Fossil Plant]] and the [[Paradise Fossil Plant]].<ref>Paul Gattis, [http://blog.al.com/breaking/2013/11/tva_to_cut_more_than_300_emplo.html#incart_river_default "TVA to cut more than 150 employees at two north Alabama plants,"] All Alabama, November 14, 2013</ref><Ref>Steven Mufson, [http://wapo.st/1adq28I "Tennessee Valley Authority to close 8 coal-fired power plants,"] Washington Post, November 14, 2013</ref>
==Coal Waste Site==
