Widows Creek Fossil Plant Main Ash Pond and Dredge Cell Final Closure

After six decades of supplying power to northeast Alabama, production ended at the Widows Creek Fossil Plant. Located on the Tennessee River near the town of Stevenson, this coal-fired fossil plant operated eight units at its peak, bringing power to the region throughout the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. A changing regulatory and economic environment prompted the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to gradually retire the facility starting in 2011, with the last of its original eight units closing in September 2015. As a result, TVA needed to close, stabilize and reduce maintenance associated with the Ash Pond Complex that was built to store ash from the fossil plant.

Barnard worked with TVA to assist in the closure of the facility by capping and covering nearly 400 acres of coal combustion residuals (CCR). The cap system consisted of Linear Low Density Polyethelene (LLDPE) geomembrane, a geocomposite drainage media, and 18 inches of cover soil and vegetative cover. Constructed in the 1950s, the Widows Creek Ash Pond Complex includes the Main Ash Pond, Upper and Lower Stilling Ponds, and Dredge Cell.

Widows Creek Fossil Plant Main Ash Pond and Dredge Cell Final Closure