Deconstruction of power plant exhaust stack begins as part of $1 billion upgrade.
DTE Energy announced Monday it soon will start bringing down one of its two 244 metre (800-foot) exhaust stacks that have been up at its coal-fired power plant in Monroe since the early 1970s, the latest step in the utility’s historic $1 billion upgrade of the plant and one that will alter the western Lake Erie vista.
The stack will be taken down foot-by-foot over six months, meaning the demolition likely will take until the end of 2011. It is to start in mid to late June, said Neil Mortensen, DTE Energy project manager.
“Work actually began last December as crews began removing the steel panels that lined the interior of the stack,” he said. “All of that carbon steel liner has been recycled, and we are looking at options for recycling concrete and reinforcing bar from the exterior stack shell.”
DTE has been spending about $1 million a year in maintenance costs on it, Mortensen said. “If the concrete were to deteriorate, falling pieces would be a serious safety concern,” he said.
The Monroe facility is one of the nation’s largest coal-fired power plants, all of which have been subject to tighter regulations because of the greenhouse gases and other forms of air pollution they emit.
In 2001, DTE Energy’s subsidiary, Detroit Edison, began upgrading the Monroe facility. The project, which former President George W. Bush lauded during a speech at the plant in 2003, initially was expected to cost $600 million and be finished in 2004.
John Austerberry, DTE spokesman, said it is now expected to cost nearly $1 billion and be finished in 2014.
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