By Marty Roney
Montgomery Advertiser

Workers salvage a 250-ton steam generator/transformer at the Steele’s Landing boat dock Friday. The generator toppled into the Alabama River Wednesday as it was being unloaded from a barge.

-- Todd Van Emst, Advertiser

Crews recovered a 250-ton generator/transformer from the shallow waters on the bank of the Alabama River Friday.

The transformer had overturned as it was being unloaded from a barge Wednesday afternoon. The equipment, valued at $1 million to $1.5 million, was destined for Tenaska’s Central Alabama power generating plant in Billingsley. The barge is tied up at Steele’s Landing, about 30 miles west of Prattville.

The transformer and multiwheeled trailer used to unload it slipped off the ramps that connected the barge to the boat landing, said Harold Stockman, local spokesman for Tenaska. Tenaska will have to inspect the transformer to determine if it can be repaired, Stockman said.

“I guess I’ll have to go on the Swift Creek and put in there,” said Ronnie Marshall, referring to a public boat ramp in Dallas County. Marshall was planning on fishing Friday on the river and was unaware Steele’s Landing had been closed.

“There’s going to be a lot of surprised people this weekend if the landing is still closed. It’s a busy ramp,” he said.

The landing will remain closed until the three remaining transformers are unloaded from the barge. Employees with the company handling the job say it may take two days to get another trailer on-site.

The transformer had no oil inside, but a small amount of hydraulic oil leaked from the trailer – a major concern for environmental agencies, said Randy Taylor, director of the Autauga County Emergency Management Agency.

“I would say less than 5 gallons of hydraulic fluid leaked,” Taylor said. “Environmental impact is extremely minimal.”

Tenaska is building two natural-gas-fired power plants in Autauga County at a combined investment of about $1 billion. The first plant, Lindsay Hill, went on-line about three months ago.