Kingston Fossil Plant Ash Recovery –
Proposed Recreation Areas

Watts Bar Reservoir, Roane County, Tennessee

On November 21, 2011, TVA completed a final environmental assessment (EA) and issued a finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for its proposal to develop public recreation areas near Kingston Fossil Plant (KIF) in Roane County, Tennessee. The objective of the public recreation areas proposal is to enhance and restore some of the land and recreation opportunities that were impacted by the ash spill by converting lands near KIF to public recreational areas.

Prior to the ash spill, softball and soccer fields on TVA’s KIF property were available for use by the public. The adjacent ash and water treatment ponds were also used by the public as a wildlife observation area, particularly for viewing shorebirds. These areas have been closed to the public since the ash spill; the ball field area now serves to support the ash recovery effort.

Under the proposed action, the public use areas would involve three recreation concepts: a ball field area on a 45-acre site, a 32-acre developed recreation area, and 60 acres of green space intended for bird/wildlife watching and wetland restoration. The proposed action also includes changes to the land use allocations for nine parcels of TVA Watts Bar Reservoir property in the vicinity of the proposed recreation project.

Public Involvement

TVA issued a draft EA on August 1, 2011 and public comments were accepted through September 16, 2011. A public meeting hosted by TVA was held on August 2, 2011 at the First Baptist Church of Kingston. See Appendix D for public comments on the draft EA and TVA's comment responses.

Documents

PDF files require Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Finding of No Significant Impact (PDF, 98 kb)

Final Environmental Assessment (PDF, 2 mb)

Kingston Recovery Project Land Plan (PDF, 284 kb)

Kingston Recovery Project Land Plan Map (PDF, 2 mb)

Appendices

Appendix A (PDF, 444 kb)
Conceptual Drawings of Proposed Recreation Areas

Appendix B (PDF, 1.2 mb)
Errata Sheet for Watts Bar Reservoir Land Plan Loudon, Meigs, Rhea, and Roane Counties, Tennessee

Appendix C (PDF, 123 kb)
Reservoir Land Planning Allocation Zone Descriptions and Examples

Appendix D (PDF, 8.6 mb)
Summary of Public Participation

Appendix E (PDF, 559 kb)
Roane County Flood Insurance Rate Map

Appendix F (PDF, 1.8 mb)
Prime Farmland Classification Maps

Appendix G (PDF, 539 kb)
Federally Listed Species Known From Roane County, Tennessee, and Their Associated Habitat

Recreation Master Plan

TVA has initiated work to prepare a Master Plan for further embayment restoration and recreational development activities on TVA property.  TVA anticipates completion of the Master Plan in March 2012.

Reservoir Land Plan

The Kingston Recovery Project Reservoir Land Management Plan is under preparation by TVA to reflect the proposed allocations as described in the final EA.

Contact

To receive additional information, obtain a printed or computer disc copy of the final EA, contact:

Kelly R. Baxter, NEPA Specialist
Tennessee Valley Authority
400 West Summit Hill Drive, WT 11D
Knoxville, TN 37902
Phone:  865-632-2101; Fax:  865-632-3451
krbaxter@tva.gov

TVA Environmental Information Center Phone: 800-882-5263