Coal-burning plant site could unlock harbor access for Port of Memphis industrial park

Wayne Risher
Memphis Commercial Appeal
August 22, 2017 - The Allen Fossil Plant is seen over a couple of their coal ash containment ponds. Tennessee Valley Authority is installing new wells at the Allen Fossil Plant to check for contamination.

Port of Memphis officials believe the coming shutdown of TVA’s coal-burning Allen Fossil Plant could present a golden opportunity to expand the port.

They’ve proposed to redevelop the Allen site into a facility to transfer freight between rails and barges on the Mississippi River after the plant is decommissioned by the end of 2018.

Randy Richardson, executive director of the Memphis-Shelby County Port Commission, told the TVA board recently the project would create “a 130-acre transloading facility that would be unlike any other between St. Louis and New Orleans.”

The redevelopment would give the 3,000-acre Frank C. Pidgeon Industrial Park what it has sorely lacked: “dedicated harbor access to McKellar Lake and to the federally sponsored dredging,” Richardson said during a Nov. 9 TVA board meeting at Pickwick.

Richardson and Reid Dulberger, president of the Economic Development Growth Engine of Memphis and Shelby County, have met with senior TVA executives but the proposal hasn’t advanced to the board.

TVA is due to take the Allen plant out of service after nearly 60 years, as part of the federally owned utliity’s move away from coal-burning plants. A $975 million, natural gas-powered combined-cycle electric generating plant is under construction on 75 acres near Allen.

August 22, 2017 - The Allen Fossil Plant is seen over a couple of their coal ash containment ponds. Tennessee Valley Authority is installing new wells at the Allen Fossil Plant to check for contamination.

TVA spokesman Scott Brooks said once the Allen plant shuts down, the agency still has lots of work left to do, including environmental studies and possible remediation. Because the plant was originally operated by Memphis Light, Gas & Water Division, the land is owned by local government.

The discovery of high levels of arsenic and other contaminants in shallow groundwater near the Allen site has prompted a major environmental investigation. It’s exploring whether the plant’s coal ash storage ponds are linked to contamination of nearby water.

The proposal to repurpose the Allen site comes at a time when the Port Commission and EDGE have embarked on a new master plan for port properties including Presidents Island and the Pidgeon park.

Richardson said the planning effort, led by Pickering, will include a look at potential economic impact of a transloading facility.

More than 1,600 people work in the Pidgeon park at industries such as Nucor Steel and Electrolux and an intermodal gateway operated jointly by CN Railway and CSX Transportation. Richardson said Pidgeon has an annual economic impact of $2 billion.

Direct access to McKellar Lake would be a major boost because McKellar, a slackwater harbor, is dredged on a regular schedule by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Richardson said he and Dulberger had presented a concept plan to TVA that includes a unit train track and rail classification yard as the “backbone” of a transloading facility. A unit train is one that is at least 100 rail cars long.

“The facility’s connections to the river will encourage development of ancillary businesses on the site and allow efficient import and export transloading of bulk goods and containers to countries around the world,” Richardson said.

Contact reporter Wayne Risher at (901) 529-2874 or wayne.risher@commercialappeal.com.