LG&E Natural Gas Power Plant
Monroe, GA

Overland Contracting, Inc. (OCI) constructed a new LG&E Power plant during 2000-2001. The plant was scheduled to be complete and stabilized by April 2001.

Bound by Jack's Creek on the North and East sides, the LG&E plant sits on a sixty acre parcel that was farmland in Monroe, GA. Thirty acres of earth were disturbed in the construction process with long steep slopes formed on all sides of the property.

In May 2001, Southeastern Erosion Control Services, Inc. (SECS) was contacted by OCI. Alarmed by high turbidity readings (readings mandated by GAR 100000), Overland was concerned that the Best Management Practices (BMPs) installed at the site were not functioning properly.

SECS submitted to OCI an assessment of current conditions and a plan of corrective action designed to bring the site into compliance under Georgia law.

• Nearly thirty acres of the vegetative stabilization was determined to be temporary grass.
• There were numerous rills and gullies on the slopes throughout the property.
• The rip rap channels were not sized correctly and contained undersized rip rap without a geotextile lining.
• Storm water runoff was not flowing properly into the sediment pond.
• Heavy slope erosion around the pond had caused sediment build up in the pond.
• The sediment pond retrofit was in the wrong location.

In short, few of the BMPs were functioning properly.

• Strip the entire site of the temporary grass and minimal slope mat used.
• Regrade and redress the site.
• Hydroseed all exposed areas with a specified mixture of grass seed.
• Cover all slopes steeper than 4:1 with double sided straw or coconut fiber blanket, depending on the grade and length of the slope.
• Cover and track all areas flatter than 4:1 with straw mulch.
• Clean, resize, and add a geotextile and type III rip rap to five existing rock channels.
• Design and add four new rip rap channels.
• Demuck five swales and seed with a wetland seed mixture; protect the grassy channel with coconut blanket.
• Clean out the sediment pond and relocate the retrofit to help water leave the site correctly.

Within eleven weeks, the site had been regraded and stabilized. After careful installation, the BMPs proved effective. Subsequent monitoring of storm water discharge showed the NTU readings to be insignificant. The site had achieved final stabilization and the owner successfully submitted a 'Notice of Termination' to the state EPD to cease coverage under General Permit GAR 100000. The plant was brought on-line to service the needs of the community.