The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today it has approved the Tennessee Valley Authority’s plan to transfer up to 3 million cubic yards of coal ash from the Kingston Fossil Plant to an Alabama landfill.

The ash will be going to the Arrowhead Landfill in Perry County, Ala. The EPA’s approval calls for the fly ash to be disposed of under the most stringent protective disposal standards for municipal solid waste landfills.

The Arrowhead Landfill was selected because it meets and exceeds these standards, TVA officials said.

The Alabama landfill could hold a little more than half of the 5.4 million cubic yards of ash that spilled from a storage pond on Dec. 22 in Kingston. The Arrowhead Landfill was chosen from a list of 25 disposal sites reviewed by TVA.

EPA spokesman Davina Marraccini said the Arrowhead Landfill features a compacted clay liner and a high-density polyethylene liner; a collection system that gathers liquids and pumps them to the surface for treatment and a protective cover. The landfill is permitted to accept waste materials such as coal ash and has the capacity to accommodate the anticipated volume of material.

TVA plans to ship the coal ash to Alabama on rail cars.

Read more in tomorrow’s Times Free Press