Benzinga | Jul 22, 2021 09:13AM EDT

Infrastructure And Energy Alternatives Says Awarded Large-Scale Coal Ash Removal Contract By Dominion Energy; Terms Not Disclosed

Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives, Inc. (NASDAQ:IEA) ("IEA" or the "Company"), a leading infrastructure construction company with renewable energy and specialty civil expertise, today announced that the Company has been awarded the Chesterfield Coal Ash Removal contract at the Chesterfield Power Station in Virginia. Dominion Energy, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, awarded this project to Saiia Construction, a subsidiary of IEA that specializes in industrial heavy civil construction for the power generation, aggregate mining, and pulp and paper sectors.



Legislation passed during the 2019 Virginia General Assembly requires Dominion Energy to remove all coal ash totaling approximately 15 million cubic yards at the Chesterfield Power Station. The coal ash must be recycled or placed in a lined landfill meeting federal coal ash residual (CCR) and Virginia CCR regulations. Saiia Construction has been tasked with the closure of the Upper and Lower Ash Ponds at Chesterfield. Work began this past May and is expected to take approximately 13 years to complete.

Saiia Construction will self-perform a full range of services from the hauling and management of conditioned CCR onsite to landfill maintenance and the full closure of the plant's impoundments. It is anticipated that at least seven million cubic yards of CCR will be recycled, while the remaining material will be stored in the station's state-of-the-art lined landfill.

"We believe that this contract positions IEA as one of the premier service providers in the coal ash remediation industry," said JP Roehm, IEA's President and Chief Executive Officer. "In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency passed a comprehensive set of rules for the management of coal ash in landfills and impoundments. Since that time, coal ash has become one of the most common and heavily regulated waste streams in the United States. There are more than 700 coal ash impoundments and landfills across the country, but even with state and federal regulations in place, only roughly 15% of these sites have been closed or remediated at present. Coal ash remediation ultimately represents a $50 billion-plus market opportunity over the next decade."

"We look forward to partnering with Saiia on this important project," said Brandon Stites, Vice President, Project Construction for Dominion Energy. "Their decades of experience and proven track record will help to assure the project is safely completed in a manner that protects the environment and our neighbors."