TVA on Thursday started dredging ash from the Emory River channel, calling it "an important milestone in the recovery of the Kingston site."
The work started after the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation approved both TVA's Phase I Dredging Plan on the removal of ash from the Emory River channel and the sampling plan submitted by TVA last week.
TVA said it had mobilized equipment and people for the dredging work.
Officials said:
* Removal of the ash from the channel will reduce flood risk, improve water quality, and mitigate impacts to the aquatic community.
* TVA will dredge the ash from the river channel using hydraulic dredges. The material will be dredged to the side of the channel and allowed to dry. It will then moved temporarily to the area where the current ball fields exist onsite. This area is adjacent to the channel.
* The water from the dredged material will flow back into the sluice channel, which flows into the existing ash pond. There, any suspended material will be allowed to settle and then the water will be released back to the river. This is how all ash water is handled at the plant.
TVA has been taking a number of steps to clean up the massive release of ash caused by a failure of a coal ash containment dike at TVA’s Kingston Fossil Plant in East Tennessee.