We’ll be sharing the information below with elected officials and the media today, and we’ll go door-to-door with this information in the neighborhood near the plant on Swan Pond Road.
Kingston Boiler Maintenance on Units 6-9 will Take Place
TVA will be performing specific maintenance activities on the remaining four of the nine Kingston units on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 24 & 25. Much like November 17, TVA needs to maintain the condition of the units at Kingston that have not been in service. These maintenance activities will cause smoke to be emitted out of the South stack (stack 2).
The smoke is primarily carbon, but will also contain some nitrogen, water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide. TVA will continue to meet all state air quality requirements.
TVA’s air quality permits, issued by the state of Tennessee, allow for the plant to perform this type of maintenance on the plant. Kingston will constantly monitor the stack emissions during this activity. Below is information about how it works that was sent out earlier, but it’s a good reminder.
How it works
In order to help ensure the units perform better when they do come back into service, plant staff will perform several activities. One activity involves filling the water-carrying tubes in the boilers with water, heating the water and then draining the water out of the tubes. This helps minimize rusting.
In order to heat the water in the boiler tubes, the plant will burn fuel oil. This burning of fuel oil is what will cause the gray to black plume of smoke to be discharged from the north stack for a period of about eight hours each day. It is similar to the smoke from an oil lamp, only on a larger scale, as has been seen many times in the past when the Kingston units started operation.
The plant will not be generating power, and coal will not be burned during this activity. There may be additional maintenance of this kind with all of the boilers prior to any scrubber or unit start up.
Storm Water Retention Pond Work
During routine checks for start-up of the Kingston scrubber, TVA personnel observed fluctuating water levels in the storm water retention pond, which is adjacent to the gypsum storage area. This is being investigated.
TVA has drained the retention pond and we will continue to investigate the cause. If we determine corrective actions are necessary, we will take the appropriate steps. However, while the pond is drained, TVA has decided to install a synthetic liner on top of the clay liner, pending approval.
Kingston scrubber start up tests and associated discharges into the gypsum storage area will continue in preparation for full system start up at a later date, which will be communicated in advance. No discharge from the storage area to the storm water pond will be allowed until all work is complete. As we receive more information, we will share it with you.
Ash Recovery Site Shutting Down for Thanksgiving
Other than some onsite dredging, the Kingston Ash Recovery Site will be shut down for the Thanksgiving holidays beginning Wednesday evening, November 25, at 7 p.m. Work will resume as normal on Monday morning, November 30. This will provide relief to the road closing due to train crossings.
Katie Bell Kline
Senior Manager, Community Relations
Tennessee Valley Authority
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