Keeping the electric system safe and dependable while protecting the environment has always been a high priority for Alabama Power. Doing it in ways that are innovative, cost-effective and benefit customers are also top of mind for Alabama Power employees.

For Paula Coker and Cliff Young, members of Alabama Power’s Environmental Affairs team, these fundamental principles helped drive an idea that not only saves money and supports the environment but could benefit utilities and other industries nationwide.

The idea earned Young and Coker first prize in the Alabama Power Sustainability Challenge, an internal competition in which employees were encouraged to bring forth innovative ideas that support the company’s sustainability efforts. In other words: ideas that not only help the bottom line but benefit customers and communities the company serves.

Young and Coker’s idea centers on the company’s continual efforts to safely maintain – and expand where needed – its transmission system: the tall towers and poles that link the generating facilities to communities and to major industrial and manufacturing facilities across the state.

Much of the transmission system traverses rural areas, where the company takes special care to preserve natural habitats along and around the transmission rights of way.

For years, the standard practice for constructing transmission rights of way involved cutting and burning vegetation, or when burning was not appropriate, mulching the vegetation and carting tons of the material to landfills. When land disturbance is unavoidable, the company is required to use best management practices (BMP), such as silt fencing, to prevent sediment loss at the site, as required by the state’s environmental agency. It is a costly and time-consuming practice that requires regular maintenance to ensure the fencing operates properly.

In exploring alternatives, Young and Coker researched the possibility of taking natural, vegetative material gathered at the sites and using it to create berms that could – potentially – help prevent sediment loss as effectively as manufactured silt fences. Using the on-site material also would reduce or eliminate the need to truck it away to landfills – reducing landfill waste while reducing truck traffic and vehicle emissions.

The numbers made it worth studying; typically, a mile of transmission line construction can produce about 2 million pounds of vegetative material.

“Hauling natural mulch to landfills just doesn’t make good environmental sense,” Young said. “We realized the significant, potential benefits of keeping it on site, for erosion and sediment control – not to mention the costs.”

An idea to reuse vegetative material at transmission construction sites is not only better for the environment but is reducing costs. (contributed)

The company partnered with Auburn University stormwater and civil engineering experts to test the idea at a facility on campus.

The initial results were strongly positive. There were significant potential cost savings, based on the company’s own analysis. The Auburn research showed that the natural berms, when installed correctly, were significantly more effective in keeping sediment on site than standard silt fencing.

Indeed, Coker, a Water Compliance team leader, said the research showed the berms did a far better job than the silt fencing in filtering rainwater, so that any runoff leaving the site was significantly cleaner compared to what passed through traditional fencing.

Paula Coker joined Cliff Young in presenting to Alabama Power leaders at the Sustainability Challenge. (contributed)

Cliff Young presents during the Sustainability Challenge. (Billy Brown)

The benefits of using berms made from natural materials kept adding up. The method caused less disturbance to the natural landscape; it required fewer personnel at the construction site, which reduced the potential for accidents; and there was far less waste, since there was no need to buy – and then discard – miles of silt fencing, which can’t be effectively reused.

The company decided to test the process at a transmission line construction project in Mobile County. Typically, the company must secure a stormwater permit from the Alabama Department of Environmental Management for transmission construction work. The permit spells out guidelines the company must follow to protect water quality and the environment.

After reviewing results from the company’s pilot project and the research data, ADEM concluded that using natural-material berms was an effective method that protects the environment. The decision clears the way for the company to continue using the process, and potentially opens the door for it to be applied to other types of construction – from commercial and residential developments to road projects.

“This is now a best management practice,” Young said.

Also significant is the cost savings. For example, on the 10-mile test project in Mobile County, the company determined it saved about $780,000 – or $78,000 per mile – because there was no need to purchase and maintain silt fencing through the life of the project. The figure includes savings from not having to haul away thousands of tons of vegetative material, plus the avoided landfill fees.

Coker noted another benefit: The natural berms can be left in place after construction is completed and will decompose gradually. The slowly dissolving berms can help in managing stormwater, and the natural material supports habitat and wildlife. Also, crews don’t have to come back and pull out the traditional silt fencing: That means less disturbance to the landscape. Meanwhile, the remaining berm provides greater stability for the right of way as the site returns to a more natural condition.

Plus, there are carbon-reduction benefits. Young said at a traditional transmission construction site, there could be as many as 100 truckloads of material removed per day, over 30 days, with the material transported an average 30 miles to a landfill. Eliminating that portion of the project translates to more than 291 metric tons of avoided carbon dioxide emissions, not to mention emissions avoided because no material is burned at the site.

“It’s a win-win-win,” Young said.

Based on tests, using berms made from natural vegetation may have benefits in many types of construction projects. (contributed)

Coker said the results have caught the eye of other utilities and construction contractors. Coker and Young have been asked to present their findings at industry and environmental conferences. The Alabama Department of Transportation is interested in the findings, which could ultimately be incorporated into the Alabama Erosion Control Handbook, the “blue book” of erosion- and sediment-control for construction sites across the state.

Coker and Young recognized the company’s Transmission Construction team for supporting the idea and the pilot project, as well as the research team at Auburn for its work. And while they graciously shared credit, the two couldn’t completely contain their excitement about an idea that appears poised to take off and provide benefits far beyond those that are already evident for Alabama Power and its customers.

Reducing costs, cutting down on landfill waste, protecting the environment: “It all makes sense,” Young said.

“Our team members are always looking for better ways to serve our customers, reduce costs and protect the environment we all share,” said Susan Comensky, Alabama Power vice president of Environmental Affairs. “This idea brought all those goals together, with fantastic results.

“But even more exciting: Their idea has the potential to reap environmental benefits far beyond our industry, for the benefit of people in Alabama and beyond,” Comensky said.