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Down come the smokestacks!

Smokestacks 1 and 2 came down at the W.H. Sammis Plant Stratton Saturday morning in Northern Jefferson County, closing both lanes of state Route 7 and marking the end of the coal-powered era in the Ohio Valley. Each smokestack stood about 500 feet high. Energy Harbor, the plant’s former owner, announced its closing in 2023, citing a desire to shift from coal power plants to carbon-free nuclear plants more compliant with federal environmental regulations. Officials with B&B Wrecking and Excavating (the company hired to complete the site’s remediation since the property was acquired by Energy Transition and Environmental Management of Houston) confirmed last month that the two smokestacks at the property’s north end would be imploded. Four boilers were also removed from the plant on Saturday, while the tunnel and pollution control equipment atop it is expected to be removed at a later date as are the remaining smokestacks. The power plant was completed in 1962 and opened by Ohio Edison. It was named for Walter H. Sammis, the company’s president and chief executive officer at the time. The public was welcome to watch the demolition from the overlook near the Hancock County Office of Emergency Services headquarters in New Cumberland, located across the river from Stratton in New Cumberland. (Photos by Stephanie Elverd)

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