TVA to Hold Public Meeting on Muscle Shoals Reservation Redevelopment

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Jan 11, 2011, 03:17 ET

MUSCLE SHOALS, Ala., Jan. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A draft Environmental Impact Statement on the possible sale and redevelopment of about 1,400 acres on the Tennessee Valley Authority's Muscle Shoals Reservation in Colbert County, Ala., is available for public review and comment.

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The draft statement, prepared in two volumes totaling more than 400 pages, is available at www.tva.com/environment/reports/. The document considers five alternatives for land use: no action; conservation; commercial, retail and residential redevelopment; industrial redevelopment, and mixed-use redevelopment.

TVA will hold a public meeting to receive comments on the report on Feb. 3 from 5 p.m. - 8 p.m. CST at Muscle Shoals High School, 1900 E. Avalon Ave., Muscle Shoals, Ala. 35661.

The draft statement says that disposing of this property would help reduce TVA's operations and maintenance costs, help reduce TVA's environmental footprint and complement TVA's economic development mission. This also would avoid a piecemeal response to many requests from local officials over the years for use of portions of the reservation.

TVA is considering options to sell this land with no specific future use designations and, where possible, without use restrictions other than those designed to protect TVA's program interests or to meet legal or environmental requirements. Under any of the action alternatives, TVA anticipates an approximate 20-year or more redevelopment build-out of the property.

A comprehensive master plan will be developed by TVA and local government authorities with input from the public, to be sure the development is a sustainable partnership of all interested parties. The plan will guide land use development on the area consistent with the alternative selected, resource protection and enhancement strategies, use restrictions and other potentially applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances.

All comments on the draft statement must be received by Feb. 28, 2011. Comments can be made at the meeting, online, or by mailing them to Stan Davis, TVA , 400 W. Summit Hill Drive, WT 11D, Knoxville, Tenn. 37902.

Any comments received, including names and addresses, will become part of the administrative record and available for public inspection.

The Tennessee Valley Authority, a corporation owned by the U.S. government, provides electricity for utility and business customers in most of Tennessee and parts of Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia – an area of 80,000 square miles with a population of 9 million. TVA operates 29 hydroelectric dams, 11 coal-fired power plants, three nuclear plants and 11 natural gas-fired power facilities that can produce about 34,000 megawatts of electricity, delivered over 16,000 miles of high-voltage power lines. TVA also provides flood control, navigation, land management and recreation for the Tennessee River system and works with local utilities and state and local governments to promote economic development across the region. TVA, which makes no profits and receives no taxpayer money, is funded by sales of electricity to its customers. Electricity prices in TVA's service territory are below the national average.

SOURCE Tennessee Valley Authority