Owensboro Municipal Utilities has almost finished the decommissioning of their Elmer Smith Station and is more than halfway done with the decommissioning of Plant A.
Operations at Elmer Smith Station were discontinued in 2020, while the 650-foot and 419-foot smoke stacks were felled in December 2022. The decommissioning process has continued since then, and officials reported Thursday they are 90% done.
They said all environmental work, and nearly all above-grade demolition work and most below-grade demolition work, is complete.
Production Technical Services Manager Alex Conn said they still have yet to complete the transformer pad demolition in the switchyard, the remaining FGD building demolition, below-grade demolition in the thicker area, and backfilling and site grading, including seeding.
“We’re just about to cross the finish line at this point at the Elmer Smith Station,” Conn said. “…The site has definitely changed quite a bit, and we’re really pleased with how it’s come along.”
They expect it to be wholly decommissioned this October.
As for Plant A — next door to the former Daviess County Middle School building on East 4th Street — OMU reported being about 60% finished with decommissioning. They expect to be finished with the process in February 2024.
Conn said that while they are more than halfway finished decommissioning the plant, the view from 4th Street may indicate as such.
“Now it kind of gets to where it’s going to be a lot more visual; you’re going to be seeing [the work] a lot more; you’re gonna hear about it a lot more, I’m sure, from people in the community when we start to get into that demolition of the main power plant structure,” he said.
In addition to the main plant structure, Conn said they still have to complete the removal and backfill of clear wells underground in the front yard, final demolition work on the intake structure, and backfilling and site grading.
The organization budgeted $22.4 million for the decommissioning of the plants. Conn said they are currently slated to finish $1.6 million under the budget, which will be used for contingency should anything come up.
