(LOUISVILLE) — In a effort to preserve and save the environment, E.ON and many others are giving one area of Louisville a makeover. Turning what was once a former sand mine into a beautiful soil and seeded community green space.
It’s been a plea of activists for decades: do what it takes to save the environment.
Now three agencies in Louisville Metro have a way to do that with one natural resource — coal ash.
According to Kenny Tapp, Senior Byproducts Coordinator for E.ON, “This is a project that is considered a beneficial use project from the state and the federal EPA. And we look for opportunities to find uses instead of putting it into our landfill or our ash pond on site.”
The site, 15 acres of land, was originally owned by Flynn Brothers Contracting. They stripped the area of its trees and sand with a plan from the very beginning — to revitalize the area.
Jim Rice of Flynn Brothers said they feel like it’s a way that they can give back to the community.
Through a partnership with E.ON US they now have the coal ash to backfill the land.
“We contacted E.ON and they had the ash and they were very interested in donating the material for this,” said Charles Price, Charah President and CEO.
Crews from Charah will bring in the coal ash to level the field over a 30-month period.
“We’re hauling it in and our men will place it and compact it and cover it with dirt and seed and straw when we’re finished,” said Price.
Not only is E.ON saving pond space and providing more green area, but is helping the environment by putting the ash back where it came from — into the ground.
So, how much ash will it actually take to fill this 15 acre pit?
The project will use approximately 900,000 tons of coal ash and they are constantly looking for environmentally friendly uses for ash.
Price says much work is to be done, but it will be well worth the effort. “It was sorta a sandpit and the water was an attractive nuisance for kids, so this sorta eliminates some of those problems.”
The project is expected to last about 30 months. All residents are invited to come to the site and see the progress that is being made.
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