State OKs expansion of coal-ash dump in Knowlton

KNOWLTON – The Wisconsin Public Service Commission has approved a $13.18 million expansion of a landfill in the town of Knowlton that will store coal fly ash from power plants in the village of Weston and Green Bay.

Earlier this year, Wisconsin Public Service Corp. sought approval to add 22 acres to its 35-acre Weston Disposal Site near Legner Road and Highway C at a cost of $50.6 million. WPS expected the site to fill up in three years as stricter federal pollution regulations would change the chemical properties of fly ash, making it unsuitable for reuse as a concrete component.

Much of the 271,700 cubic yards of coal ash annually produced at the Weston and Green Bay generating plants has been reused in concrete, and WPS had dumped only about 9,500 cubic yards of fly ash since the site opened in 1990.

The PSC approved the entire project, but authorized construction of two of the nine planned storage areas or, cells, in the expanded landfill.

The other areas at the site can be constructed as needed, said Kerry Spees, a WPS spokesman.

The site will be expanded to the east, west, and north of the existing 35-acre landfill. Construction of the first two cells will begin this fall and are scheduled to be operational by January 2016.

The expansion project should add 15 years to the landfill site when it reaches 57 acres, said Spees, but that duration could be enlarged if WPS finds another beneficial use for the fly ash.

"'We'll keep looking," he said.

WPS currently keeps about 168,975 cubic yards of fly ash at the Weston and Green Bay storage facilities. Should these materials not be able to be re-used, WPS will be required to dispose of them by January 2016, according to the rate order.

The Department of Natural Resources gave preliminary approval to a feasibility study in December, said Joe Lourigan, a DNR hydro-geologist, but the final operations plan needs to be approved.

An environmental assessment was conducted and the PSC determined the project posed no environmental harm.

The PSC also determined that the landfill expansion did not require a public hearing.

After public meetings with Marathon County and town of Knowlton officials, the two local governments signed an expansion agreement in May 2013.

The Weston site consists of about 212 acres, of which 140 acres are forested and the remainder of the site is a developed landfill, fallow farm fields and abandon farm buildings.

WPS will seek to recover the project's cost in future rate appeals to the PSC, Spees said.