Fly ash is a byproduct of coal combustion at coal-fired power plants. At Martins Creek, fly ash is captured from the exhaust gas exiting the plant’s boilers. It is mixed with water and pumped into basins. The ash then settles to the bottom of the basins.

Components of fly ash

PPL supplied 196,700 tons of Stabil-Fill to construct the embankment for a new 3,000-foot runway at the Danville/Riverside Airport in Danville, Pa.

Fly ash, or coal ash, predominantly consists of silicon, aluminum and iron. It also contains trace amounts of elements that exist naturally in soil, rock and coal. These elements include titanium, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper and zinc.

The coal ash at Martins Creek meets U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards for non-hazardous wastes. In fact, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has established provisions for the beneficial use of this material.

PPL annually transforms more than 650,000 tons of coal ash into Stabil-Fill™, a soil-like material created when fly ash is mixed with hydrated lime and water. This Stabil-Fill is used in construction and land development projects.

Beneficial uses of fly ash

Stabil-Fill from PPL power plant operations is being used to stablize an abandoned coal mine at Sharp Mountain in Pottsville, Pa.

PPL uses more than 90 percent of its coal ash for beneficial purposes. Ash from the company’s power plant operations has supported economic development projects, including the construction of a runway at a community airport.

It has supported environmental improvement projects, serving as fill in abandoned mines to prevent sinkholes, land subsidence and chronic acid mine drainage – a leading cause of groundwater and surface water pollution in Pennsylvania. PPL contributes more than 50,000 tons of coal ash annually to mine reclamation projects.

It also has been used in recreation projects, including the construction of soccer and baseball fields and a golf course.