Allen Fossil Plant Ash Impoundment Closures

Shelby County, Tennessee

Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision

On April 14, 2020, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) issued a Record of Decision (ROD) for its proposal to close the ash impoundments at the former Allen Fossil Plant (ALF), located in Shelby County, Tennessee, southwest of the City of Memphis.

TVA has decided to implement the preferred alternative identified in the Final EIS:  Alternative B – Closure of the Metal Cleaning Pond, Closure-by-Removal of the East Ash Pond Complex and the West Ash Pond; Disposal of CCR in an Offsite Landfill Location. This decision would support the implementation of TVA’s goal to eliminate all wet CCR storage at its coal plants by closing CCR surface impoundments across the TVA system and to assist TVA in complying with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) CCR Rule. In addition, as TVA does not solely own the property where the fossil site is located, the proposed actions would make the ALF closure area land available for future economic development projects in the greater Memphis area.

TVA has evaluated closure of the East Ash Pond Complex, the West Ash Pond, and the Metal Cleaning Pond. In addition to these closures, TVA has analyzed potential location requirements and environmental impacts associated with construction and utilization of an off-site proposed beneficial re-use facility to process CCR materials. TVA has also evaluated potential impacts associated with actions requiring use of permitted borrow sites and the disposal of CCR at existing off-site permitted landfills. 

Background and Previous Public Involvement

A Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS was published to the Federal Register on November 30, 2018. A public information session was held on January 17, 2019, at the Mitchell Community Center in Memphis, TN, to provide additional information related to the proposed actions to the public. Public comments on the scope of the EIS were collected from November 30, 2018 through January 31, 2019, and at the public information session. 

After consideration of comments received during the scoping period, TVA developed a Scoping Report that summarized public and agency comments that were received and identified the schedule for completing the EIS process. The scoping report was released on March 27, 2019.  

TVA released the draft EIS for public review on October 4, 2019. A Notice of Availability for the draft EIS was published in the Federal Register on October 11, 2019. Two public information sessions were held during the review period to allow the public the opportunity to learn more about the project.  The first session was held on October 8, 2019 at the Mitchell Community Center in Memphis, TN. A second session was held on October 30, 2019 at the Benjamin L. Hooks Public Library in Memphis, TN.  Public comments were accepted between October 4, 2019 and November 25, 2019, and at both public information sessions.

TVA released the final EIS to the public on March 6, 2020. A Notice of Availability for the Final EIS was published in the Federal Register on April 13, 2020.