Dec. 10

Update on Kingston Site Activities

December 10, 2009



New Rail Spurs

New railroad spurs will be installed south of Swan Pond Road and closer to the Kingston Fossil Plant, which will allow the switching to take place away from the road itself. Currently, there are about 25 rail crossings on Swan Pond each day that cause traffic delays for local residents and workers at the Kingston plant and site recovery areas. The new spurs will reduce the temporary blockages on Swan Pond Road. TVA officials studied various options to help alleviate the railroad crossing problems, including building an overpass near the recovery site. The time it would take to construct such an overpass, along with the cost, made that project unfeasible. The new rail spurs are much more cost effective and can be completed by the end of January 2010.



”Curfew” times, in which train crossings are prohibited on Swan Pond Road, will be strictly enforced by the management staff at the recovery site. The current curfew times are:

6:30 – 7:15 a.m.

3:30 – 4:15 p.m.

5:00 – 5:30 p.m.

These times will be reviewed and any changes will be communicated.



Drying Systems

New ash drying systems will be installed at the Site to expedite the removal of fly ash. The benefit to the drying systems is that the sooner moisture can be removed from the stockpiled ash that has been removed from the river, the sooner it can be transported to the Perry County, Alabama, landfill.



The first system to be installed will be a filter press system. A filter press reduces the volume and weight of a slurry waste by separating liquid from the solid. The liquid passes through filter cloths and exits the press leaving behind the filtered solids, called a filter cake. After the desired moisture content is achieved, the press is opened and the filter cake is released.



The second system will be a Genesis Rapid Dewatering System. The system works in stages. First, the ash material passes through a course debris screen, which eliminates and disposes of large objects such as rocks and debris. The next step uses centrifugal force to spin the solids away as the water drains down. Then a computer monitors the changes in the density and flow and injects polymers at various points to produce larger masses of the solids. The rapid dewatering system then captures the fine grain sediments and recovers the water.



Having these new systems will greatly increase our ability to process the fly ash and prepare it for transport to the landfill in Alabama.



Residents in the immediate area as well as plant and site workers can expect a temporary increase in large transport trucks which will be bringing in the filtration and drying equipment, as well as materials to construct the rail spurs. This will begin as early as Friday, December 11 and should last just a few weeks.



Dike C Buttressing Update

Dike C buttressing has begun. Materials needed for this project will come in by truck from the local quarry and from a quarry outside of Roane County. Currently, 46 loads a day will be brought in, half from each quarry. The quarry from outside of Roane County will transport materials in via the interstate and up Swan Pond Road. The local quarry trucks will turn right off of Quarry Road and come onto Swan Pond Road from the North.



Rain Event on December 8

On the day of the high flow event TVA collected a river sample near the Kingston water plant intake. This is in addition to the daily raw water and finished water samples taken by the plant. We contacted the plant operator and he stated he had not noticed any changes in the output from the plant treatment processes.



Excavator

It was pulled out of the river today – there were some delays due to weather and other issues. It will be washed and the plan is to transport it to the south dock for removal on Friday.



Let me know if you have questions.



Katie





Katie Bell Kline

Senior Manager, Community Relations

Tennessee Valley Authority