Exelon Corporation Demolishes Two Giant Coal Stacks

EDDYSTONE, P.A., (CBS) -- Exelon Corporation dismantled two coal stacks in one of the retired areas of the company's Eddystone Generating Station. The demolition marks the end of an era.

"When you flew in from any region into the Philadelphia airport, you saw the stacks along the Delaware River," said Robert Judge, spokesman for Exelon Generation. He was on site at the company's EddyStone site Sunday morning as one at a time, two 265-foot coal stacks were mechanically dismantled and came tumbling down.

"The stack came tumbling down just like a tree would be cut," Judge said.

He explained that the stacks emitted smoke from both of the company's 294-megawatt coal fired units built in the 1960s. The units powered half a million homes until that section of the plant was retired at the end of 2012. Judge said their demolition marks the completion of Exelon's move away from coal toward cleaner power.

"Hydro, nuclear, wind, solar, gas," he said.

Judge explained that no coal means no smoke and a cleaner environment.