Asbury Power Plant
Asbury Power Plant chose ClosureTurf® as their final cover system to address and solve soil erosion, slope integrity, installation and maintenance cost control, EPA regulation compliance, and longevity and appearance of the final landfill cover.
In 2022, Liberty closed approximately 107.5 acres of their CCR impoundment with ClosureTurf at the Asbury Power Plant in Jasper County, MO. This project demonstrated that innovative geosynthetic applications can improve the reliability and performance of CCR impoundment closures. A Subtitle D compliant final closure system, the ClosureTurf system, including Agru MicroSpike® geomembrane with engineered, synthetic turf and specified aggregate infill, provided economic and environmental savings.
The Asbury Power Plant was a 200 net MW coal-fired power plant that entered commercial service in 1970 and was retired from service in March 2020. During its 50 years of service, the coal combustion byproducts were conveyed to an onsite impoundment for disposal. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) Rule required this impoundment be closed. Liberty studied all of the alternatives, with ClosureTurf as the lowest cost option. Also, because of the lower vehicle miles traveled, closing the Asbury CCR impoundment with ClosureTurf resulted in the least carbon emissions of any of the alternatives.
Specific benefits of ClosureTurf on this project include:
Accelerated Project Schedule
- 150 crew days vs 929 crew days with a conventional soil cap
- Eliminated excavation and loading of soil, soil hauling, soil placement, grading and compacting, seeding and soil testing time
Erosion Protection and Water Quality Enhancement
- Minimal impacts from wind and water erosion
- Eliminates 99% of sediment runoff versus traditional practices resulting in clean runoff meeting NPDES requirements
Maintenance Cost Savings
- Total overall maintenance costs versus a traditional vegetated soil cover because there is no need to reseed, fertilize or mow
Environmental, Community and Safety Benefits
- Did not require the impact of an offsite borrow area for soil requirements
- Approximately 625,000 miles of soil hauling was eliminated, a major reduction in carbon footprint and safety
- Improved groundwater quality in the area of the CCR impoundment
Renewable Energy Opportunity
- ClosureTurf serves as an ideal foundation for the future utilization of PowerCap® which optimizes a solar array by increasing density resulting in up to one MW per two acres
- Requires no additional construction/modifications to the surface in order to convert to a solar farm
