Updated March 14 with demolition details
EAST ALTON 鈥� The smokestacks at the Wood River Power Station were without issue around 8 a.m.
The plant鈥檚 three stacks produced a cloud of dust that mainly stayed over the demolition site, until water cannons dispersed it. Demolition officials had been worried about potential wind gusts carrying dust away from the site.
Work now shifts to remediating the rest of the property.
Original story from March 12
EAST ALTON 鈥� The final parts of the Wood River Power Station will be demolished this weekend with the planned implosion of the plant鈥檚 smokestacks Sunday morning.
East Alton Fire Chief Timothy Quigley said the remaining walkway and conveyor over Illinois Route 143 will come down on Saturday, and the stacks are scheduled to fall at 8 a.m. Sunday.
The demolition this weekend comes six weeks after but the smokestacks remained standing for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to study how their demolition might affect nearby levees.
It also caps the process of dismantling the shuttered coal plant, which started in 2019 after
East Alton Mayor Joe Silkwood said he鈥檚 ready for his community to move forward after the plant was shuttered in 2016.
鈥淲e have a property that is 452 acres that has a building on it that is dysfunctional and property that鈥檚 contaminated,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e need it to be used for something. It鈥檚 too big a space and too valuable a location to not be used.鈥�
Silkwood said he doesn鈥檛 know what might replace the old coal plant, only that it won't be another power plant.
鈥淎s we go forward, industry in this area is not the same as it used to be, but tourism is greater than it ever was,鈥� he said.
The demolition also who fear this weekend鈥檚 smokestack demolition could send toxic dust over neighborhoods, which .
Demolition officials say they鈥檙e monitoring wind speeds to ensure any dust the implosion creates doesn鈥檛 travel far from the site.
A spokesperson for Commercial Liability Partners said the company would also follow all safety regulations for the Wood River Power Station smokestack demolition, but .
After this demolition, the Wood River Power Station property still requires environmental remediation of coal ash, a toxic byproduct from burning coal, said Andrew Rehn, a civil engineer at Prairie Rivers Network, which works on pollution issues across the state.
鈥淎t the Wood River Power plant, most of that property is coal ash ponds,鈥� he said.
Rehn explained they are pits near the plant that would be filled with coal ash and water while the power station was operating. He added that all but one of the property鈥檚 ponds aren鈥檛 lined.
鈥淪o this water that sits in the pond and goes into the coal ash can go right into the groundwater,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 essentially ash on dirt.鈥�
He said Illinois will have specific rules for coal ash pollution that will roll out in the coming weeks.
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