Conservation

Athens Generating Facility has employed a variety of programs to protect the land surrounding its facilities. Athens Generating has taken steps to mitigate its visual impact and to secure the health of surrounding ecosystems in all phases operation.

In the preconstruction stage Athens Generating Plant worked closely with the Army Corps of Engineers and the community to develop plans and procedures that would limit its impact on the surrounding area. The formation of the Visual Impact Mitigation Plan and the Cultural Resource Management Plan laid a foundation to ensure that the Athens Generating Facility would have the least amount of impact on the aesthetics of the area and the cultural resources surrounding the plant.

The implemented plans that were created to mitigate the effects of the plant on the surrounding community and environmental were followed during the construction of the plant. Measures taken to reduce impact included the strict adherence to the Tree Protection Plan. The plan utilized the expertise of a certified professional arborist to identify specific significant trees for protection. The trees marked as significant were mature, healthy specimens that provided protective screening. A Planting Plan was established to promote and a capture the natural aesthetics of the region and make the facility visually pleasing. The Cultural Resource Management Plan insured that no known or unknown sites of historical importance would be adversely affected as a result of the construction and operations of the Athens Generating Plant.

To ensure that Athens Generating was reducing any impact its facility might have on surrounding ecosystems and their biodiversity, Athens Generating implemented a Wetland Mitigation and Enhancement Project. The use of wetland mitigation and enhancement was designed to increase wildlife habitat diversity and value, replace aquatic species habitat, promote flood attenuation, increase nutrient transformation and toxicant reduction, and to preserve open space and the aesthetics of the area. The project resulted in the formation of four new wetlands and connected them with previous existing areas. Altogether the project resulted in the successful creation of 1.56 acres of shallow open water and wetlands and the enhancement of 3.44 acres of existing wetlands.

Following the construction of the Athens Generating Plant practical procedures to reduce its visual impact on the surrounding community have been continually employed. These steps include the use of dry cooling technology to reduce the plant’s water intake. This technology eliminates the potential for the formation of steam plumes from the facility’s cooling operations. To alleviate the effects of plumes from exhaust produced by combustion Athens Generating has installed and uses a Low Pressure Economizer and Recirculation and By-pass System (LPEC) in each of the units to raise the temperature of exhaust reducing the visual impact of any emissions.

To ensure that the plans established in the pre-construction stage are carried out during normal operations Athens Generating Plant adheres to a strict set of monitoring protocols to insure that we are mitigating any visual, noise, cultural, or environmental effects. This includes Icthyoplankton (larval fish) monitoring, Plume monitoring, Wetland monitoring, and Archeological Site monitoring as well as routine compliance with state and federal environmental regulations.