Allen Fossil Plant

Allen Fossil Plant is a coal-fired power station owned and operated by Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) near Memphis, Tennessee.

The Allen power station has three coal-fired generating units and "net dependable generating capacity" of approximately 753 megawatts. TVA states that "the plant consumes some 7,200 tons of coal a day." Construction of the Allen power station commenced in 1956 and was commissioned in 1959.

Plant Data

 * Owner/Parent Company: Tennessee Valley Authority
 * Nameplate Capacity: 990 MW
 * Units and In-Service Dates: 330 MW (1959), 330 MW (1959), 330 MW (1959)
 * Location: 2574 Plant Rd., Memphis, TN 38109
 * GPS Coordinates: 35.073611, -90.148889
 * Coal Consumption:
 * Coal Source:
 * Number of Employees:

Emissions Data

 * 2006 CO2 Emissions: 5,733,667 tons
 * 2006 SO2 Emissions: 17,413 tons
 * 2006 SO2 Emissions per MWh:
 * 2006 NOx Emissions: 13,288 tons
 * 2005 Mercury Emissions: 180 lb.

The following table gives more info on this plant's SO2 emissions levels, as well as on whatever SO2 emissions "scrubbers" (Flue Gas Desulfurization units, or FGDs) have been installed at the plant. Each of the plant's units is listed separately, and at the bottom overall data for the plant is listed.

Allen ranked 67th on list of most polluting power plants in terms of coal waste
In January 2009, Sue Sturgis of the Institute of Southern Studies compiled a list of the 100 most polluting coal plants in the United States in terms of coal combustion waste (CCW) stored in surface impoundments like the one involved in the TVA Kingston Fossil Plant coal ash spill. The data came from the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) for 2006, the most recent year available.

Allen Fossil Plant ranked number 67 on the list, with 416,705 pounds of coal combustion waste released to surface impoundments in 2006.

Groundwater contamination
In July 2011, tests found coal ash contamination in the groundwater of all but one of the 10 Tennessee Valley Authority plants assessed, including two sites where investigators say the pollution could pose a health hazard. The inspector general’s assessment pointed in particular to the contamination at the Gallatin Fossil Plant and Cumberland Steam Plant in Tennessee. Excessive levels of arsenic and other toxic metals from coal ash were detected at Cumberland, 50 miles northwest of Nashville, while beryllium, cadmium and nickel were discovered at Gallatin.

In addition, the inspector general said that TVA officials for more than 10 years have found indications that toxic metals could be leaking from a coal ash pond at the authority’s Allen Fossil Plant. Arsenic above currently allowable levels was found repeatedly in a monitoring well at the site, which lies above a deep, high-quality aquifer that supplies drinking water to Memphis and nearby areas.

A TVA spokeswoman told the newspaper in an email that, at the time of the testing at Allen, the contamination levels were within limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency for drinking water. However, the inspector general’s report said that arsenic levels exceeded a tighter standard later adopted by the EPA.

Citizen groups

 * LEAF - Lindquist Environmental Appalachian Fellowship
 * Save Our Cumberland Mountains
 * Tennessee Coal Ash Survivors Network
 * United Mountain Defense

Related SourceWatch Articles

 * Existing U.S. Coal Plants
 * Tennessee and coal
 * United States and coal
 * Global warming