U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Tennessee Valley Authority Kingston Coal Ash Release Site Project Completion Fact Sheet Harriman, Roane County, Tennessee December 2014

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
and Tennessee Valley Authority
Kingston Coal Ash Release Site

Project Completion Fact Sheet

Harriman, Roane County, Tennessee December 2014

PROJECT HISTORY

On December 22,
2008, at approximately
1:00 a.m., the northwest
side of a dike used to
contain coal ash failed
at the dewatering
area of the Tennessee
Valley Authority
(TVA) Kingston Fossil
Plant, located at 714
Swan Pond Road
in Harriman, Roane
County, Tennessee.
After the dike failed,
approximately 5.4
million cubic yards

(cy) of coal ash was

released into Swan

Pond Embayment and three adjacent sloughs, eventually spilling into the main Emoiy River channel. The
release extended approximately 300 acres outside of the fly ash dewatering and storage areas of the plant.
The TVA, state and local emergency management agencies first responded to the scene and began to assist
residents affected by the coal ash release. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Tennessee
Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) responded shortly after to moni tor the cleanup, provide
air and water quality sampling, and help establish a unified command system.

On May 11, 2009, TVA entered into an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) with the EPA Region 4 Office,
under the regulatory authority of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability
Act (CERCLA or Superfund), to address the coal ash released to the environment. The Superfund program was
selected as the preferred regulatory framework because of its comprehensive human health and ecological risk
assessment process and its proven ability to actively engage and involve multiple stakeholders in large, complex
environmental cleanup projects. TVA was the lead federal agency to implement the cleanup actions required by
the AOC. EPA approved all cleanup actions in consultation with the TDEC.

The recovery project was divided into three distinct phases using time-critical and non-time critical removal
action authority to address coal ash that was released into the Emory River.

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TVA Kingston Coal Ash Release Site Fact Sheet

Harriman, Roane County, Tennessee

Phase 1 was an 18-month time-critical removal action that involved
mechanical excavation, hydraulic dredging, rapid materials handling,
and disposal of 3.5 million cy of ash from the Emory River to alleviate
upstream flooding concerns and to mitigate further downstream transport.
Ash removed from the river was dewatered on-site and loaded onto rail
cars for disposal at the approved Arrowhead Landfill in Perry County,
Alabama. Ash removal under the time-critical phase was completed in
May 2010 when the Emory River re-opened for navigation and recreation.
Railroad transportation and off-site ash disposal were completed in
December 2010.

Emory River closed

On-site ash dewatering

ft. *'¦
*

—



VIES?

Loading ash onto rail car

Dewatered ash loaded onto rail cars and ready for shipment

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Harriman, Roane County, Tennessee

TVA Kingston Coal Ash Release Site Fact Sheet

Phase 2 was a non-time-critical removal
action conducted pursuant to an
engineering evaluation/cost analysis (EE/
CA) and a subsequent action memorandum
issued in May 2010. Phase 2 involved
mechanical excavation of approximately
2.3 million cy of ash in the north and
middle Swan Pond Embayments of Watts
Bar Reservoir. Recovered ash was dried
to optimum moisture content, spread
into thin lifts, and compacted on site in a
disposal cell of approximately 240 acres.
The disposal cell was re-engineered with
a subsurface stabilization slurry wall
designed to withstand liquefaction forces
caused by a local 6.0 magnitude earthquake
on the East Tennessee fault line and a 7.6
magnitude earthquake on the New Madrid
fault line. The 4-foot-wide slurry wall
was constructed around the perimeter of
the disposal cell, extended 50-to-70 feet
below ground surface, and was keyed into
the underlying shale bedrock 2-to-7 feet.
The whole wall system was up to 100-feet
wide. The cell was capped and covered
with a 40-mil high density polyethylene
liner, a geo-composite drainage layer,

2-feet of clay and topsoil, and a vegetative
cover. The majority of Phase 2 work was
completed by December 2014,

Monitoring ash impact on swallow population

Construction of the slurry wall

Phase 3 was also a non-time-critical removal action that
involved a comprehensive human health and ecological risk
assessment of the estimated 500,000 cy of residual ash that
was not removed from the Emory River during the Phase 1
time-critical dredging work or was transported downstream
during storm events. Independent medical screening by Oak
Ridge Associated Universities concluded that there were no
adverse health impacts caused by the coal ash spill. Although
the study concluded that the pre-existing fish consumption
advisories should remain in effect. The ecological risk
assessment evaluated twenty measurement endpoints for coal
ash-related impacts including six species of fish, four species of
birds, and three species of amphibians, three species of turtles,
raccoons, mayflies, snails, and aquatic vegetation. Extensive
geochemistry studies, sediment and pore water bioassays,

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TVA Kingston Coal Ash Release Site Fact Sheet

Harriman, Roane County, Tennessee

benthic macroinvertebrate assessments, two-dimensional sediment-ash fate
and transport modeling, and groundwater modeling were also conducted.
The Phase 3 action memorandum selected Monitored Natural Recovery
(MNR) as the preferred remedy in November 2012. MNR relies on

natural processes such

EPA and TDEC worked closely with TVA throughout all
three phases of the recovery project by providing continuous
on-site oversight and support and conducting community
outreach efforts. EPA, TDEC along with TVA, participated
in many public meetings and established the Community
Media briefing Advisory Group (CAG). EPA, TDEC, and TVA, also

conducted site tours; worked with the media to keep the
community informed; presented at various community organizations and schools; managed a website that
provided up-to-date information on site activities; and prepared and mailed fact sheets to community members.

as mixing, scouring
and redeposition,
and sedimentation

(bugs) and to birds that prey on bugs.

(burial) to reduce
the relatively low
risks posed to benthic
macroinvertebrates

Monitoring ash impact on
macroinvertebrate population

CURRENT PROJECT STATUS

After 6 years of teamwork and dedication,
the recovery project is winding down.

I The majority of cleanup work will be

completed by TVA at the end of 2014.
Miscellaneous housekeeping items will
continue into the spring of 2015, including
* removal of all haul roads from the middle
embayment, construction of a perimeter
access road around the disposal cell,
maintenance of the drainage ditches and
vegetative cover on the disposal cell, and
final grading and vegetation of the Swan
Pond Recreation Area. Five years of river monitoring indicate that naturally occurring processes continue
to be effective in mitigating any potential for adverse ecological effects of residual ash and that the
ecosystem has essentially returned to pre-spill conditions. MNR proved to be effective in 5 years versus
the 10-to-15-year time frame predicted by sediment fate and transport modeling. Annual monitoring of
the river system will continue for up to 30 years to confirm that risks associated with the residual ash
remains low and that ash-related concentrations of metals decline with time. Groundwater monitoring and
maintenance of the on-site coal ash disposal cell will also be conducted over the long term.

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Harriman, Roane County, Tennessee

TVA Kingston Coal Ash Release Site Fact Sheet

TVA Kingston Ash Recovery Project Metrics

Resources

Project personnel

900

^daiJ^on-sit^at£eak^
Total Man Hours

6,700,000

Perimeter Containment Wall

Total length of 4-foot wide slurry trench

69,000 linear feet

13 miles - longest ever constructed in United States

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

Volume of spoils generated	. 14^262 samples collected to test for

More than 500,000 cubic yards (cy)	wall strength and stability

153 Olympic-sized	# 20 miles of holes drilled through the

swimming pools	waU	for pr0per mixing of slurry

material

Time
6 years

Cost
$1,178,000,000

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TVA Kingston Coal Ash Release Site Fact Sheet

Harriman, Roane County, Tennessee

Ash Dredging, Excavation and Disposal

Volume of ash
removed from river
system

3,500,000 cy

This volume
would fill the
Empire State
Building about
2.5 times; or
fill the Khufu
Pyramid ("The
Great Pyramid")
in Egypt.

Weight of ash
transported to
Alabama landfill

4,000,000 tons

This is as heavy

as about 40
aircraft carriers
or 27 cruise
ships

Total number of railcars for
ash transport to Alabama
landfill

41,000 railcars

As a single train, this
many cars would stretch
from Knoxville to
Nashville.

Volume of ash mechanically excavated from embayments

2,300,000 cy

This volume would fill the
Empire State Building 1.7 times

Volume of ash moved from other areas
1,900,000 cy

This volume would fill the
Empire State Building 1.4 times

Sediment samples collected to confirm river
system was clean

1,500

Acres of river system
cleaned up

255 acres

This is almost 2.5 times
the size of the LP Field
Complex (Tennessee Titans
stadium)

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Harriman, Roane County, Tennessee

TVA Kingston Coal Ash Release Site Fact Sheet

Ash Stacking, Cap and Cover

Volume of ash stacked and compacted in on-site

landfill

4,000,000 cy

This volume would fill the Empire State
Building three times

Length of seams
welded together for
liner

86 miles

Truckloads of clay

and topsoil for
landfill cover system

16,500
truckloads

Area of on-site
landfill

240 acres

This is about
the size of
56 Walmart
Superstores

Total volume of ash
permanently contained in
on-site landfill

20,000,000 cy

This volume would fill
The Great Pyramid
six times.

Grass seed sprayed
More than 70,000 pounds

This amount of seed is
just under the maximum
weight for an 18-wheeler
(80,000 pounds)

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TVA Kingston Coal Ash Release Site Fact Sheet

Harriman, Roane County, Tennessee

Ecological Restoration/Recreation Enhancements

Environmental samples collected
More than 16,000

Analyses conducted on those samples
About 400,000

Miles of shoreline restored
5 miles

Miles of shoreline revegetated
2 miles

Trees planted for reforestation of shoreline
7,000 trees

Miles of walking trails created
3.5 miles

Fishing piers, canoe and kayak
launches, and boat ramps
created

4 fishing piers, 2 canoe
launches, and 1 boat dock
and ramp

Wetlands and native vegetation
created/restored

More than 70 acres

This is about
14 Tennessee State Capitol buildings

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Harriman, Roane County, Tennessee

TVA Kingston Coal Ash Release Site Fact Sheet

Community Outreach

Amount of surplus
material donated to
Roane County

About $500,000

Total number of hits
on TVA/EPA project
websites

184,000

Public meetings,
availability sessions,
and workshops
sponsored

More than 50

Funds provided by TVA

to support economic
development initiatives

$43,000,000

Independent medical
screenings conducted

214

Project updates
provided by public
notices
and e-mails

More than 400

Site tours conducted
More than 100

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TVA Kingston Coal Ash Release Site Fact Sheet

Harriman, Roane County, Tennessee

Check out these before and after shots

Swan Pond Circle then	Swan Pond Circle now

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Harriman, Roane County, Tennessee TVA Kingston Coal Ash Release Site Fact Sheet

Middle Embayment then

Aerial Photo- December 28, 2008

Middle Embayment now

Aerial Photo- November 7, 2014

Watch for More Information

A public meeting to conclude the project will be held in the spring 2015.

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TVA Kingston Fly Ash Release Site Fact Sheet

Harriman, Roane County, Tennessee

INFORMATION SOURCES

TVA Kingston Cleanup Website: www.tva.gov/kingston
EPA Kingston Cleanup Website: www.epakingstontva.com

TVA and EPA Team Contacts

Kingston Recovery Project General Manager

Carol E. Eimers
865-717-1629
ceimers@tva.gov

EPA Remedial Project Manager

Craig Zeller
404-562-8827
Zeller.Craig@epa.gov

Information Repositories

View the administrative record at one of the information repositories:

Kingston Public Library	U.S. EPA Region 4

1004 Bradford Way	Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center

Kingston, TN 37763	61 Forsyth Street, SW

Atlanta, GA 30303

Harriman Public Library

601 Walden Street
Harriman, TN 37748
(865) 882-3195



United States
Environmental Protection
Agency

U.S. EPA Region 4
Attn: Stephanie Y. Brown
61 Forsyth Street, SW
Atlanta, GA 30303-8960

RETURN ADDRESS REQUESTED

FIRST CLASS

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