SITUATION
To meet changing regulatory requirements, a utility decided to excavate or close many of its coal ash basins but needed an innovative solution to complete the closure by removal (CBR) of ash ponds at multiple generating stations.
INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS
Charah Solutions provided a turnkey solution, meeting engineering and regulatory challenges, which became a long-term commitment to safely move ash from multiple power plants to a clay mine.
As part of this unique high-volume material handling project, Charah Solutions provided all siting, design, permitting, construction, and QA/QC engineering. To support the project’s innovative logistics coordination, Charah Solutions provided rail delivery and unloading infrastructure, cell lining and mine reclamation, and leachate collection and transport to offsite treatment facilities.
To support this high-volume mass movement logistics operation, five unit trains and their infrastructure and logistics were employed. Approximately two miles of rail spurs were installed, approximately 6.45 million square feet of HDPE liner was installed for the Subtitle D Lined Engineered Fill, two 500,000-gallon leachate collection tanks were installed, and six cells in total were installed for electrical system for leachate pumps and cell side slope leachate sumps.
RESULTS
Charah Solutions designed, built and operated a Subtitle D equivalent engineered fill site for the utilization of coal ash in clay mine reclamation and construction activities were financed by Charah Solutions on a per ton basis.
The clay mine holds up to 12 million tons of coal ash and will convert 300+ acres of unusable land to industrial development.