Boiler house imploded at old Hatfield's Ferry Power Station in Greene County
CARMICHAELS, Pa. (KDKA) -- The boiler house at the old Hatfield's Ferry Power Station in Greene County was imploded Friday morning.
The boiler house contained the power-generating turbines and is the last remaining major structure on the site along the Monongahela River in Carmichaels. FirstEnergy said the building is a shell, with much of the generation equipment already removed and scrapped.
The implosion was scheduled for 11 a.m. on Friday. In just a few seconds, the boiler house was reduced to a pile of rubble.
"All the scrap will be separated and then trucked off of site. We'll probably be working on this through June of next year to get this site sort of back to a site that is going to be grassy, it's going to be waiting for some good economic productive use. We don't know what that is yet, but the site will be for sale," said West Penn Power spokesperson Todd Meyers.
In March, three emission stacks came down, and two cooling towers were imploded in June.
The implosions are part of a plan to clear out the 236-acre site for future development, though so far there's been no indication as to how the property will be used. FirstEnergy said the site will keep a high-voltage electrical substation that interconnects to the regional transmission network and a water intake structure on the river.
FirstEnergy said the old coal-fired power plant closed in 2013 because of the estimated cost to comply with new and proposed federal environmental regulations on top of low market prices for electricity. About 190 people worked at the time it closed.
