Gypsum industry news

US: Workers have been constructing a new facility to process by-products from FirstEnergy Corp's coal-fired power plant as the company makes a major change in how it disposes of industrial waste. Some of the plant's by-product is already sold and reused by National Gypsum, which takes about 500,000t/yr of synthetic gypsum for wallboard production.

The Ohio-based company plans to have the project ready for use at the end of 2016, when the company has agreed to halt the use of the residual waste impoundment known as Little Blue Run, which many neighbours have alleged has leaked hazardous waste and released noxious odours.

When the Bruce Mansfield plant removes sulphur dioxide from its emissions, it creates coal combustion by-products. FirstEnergy has been depositing much of the by-product in Little Blue Run, West Virginia. However, the state Department of Environmental Protection sued in 2012 over leaks and threats to groundwater. As part of a settlement, the company agreed to no longer use Little Blue Run by the end of 2016.

James Fitzgerald, Manager of major projects, said that new disposal sites for materials treated by the new dewatering facility will be different. "That landfill will have different regulations, different requirements. There are liners associated with it. So it's a whole different process," said Fitzgerald.

With the new facility, FirstEnergy will process 2.5 – 3.5Mt/yr of by-product, which consists of fly ash, sulphur and lime. It will be processed at the new facility, where water will be removed. The water from the process will then be reused at the plant, said Jim Graf, Director of the Bruce Mansfield plant. Once the new facility processes the by-product, it will be moved by barge to another site. The new project will cost more than US$200m.