Going, going, gone! Crews implode Elrama power plant smokestack

Crews imploded the Elrama Generating Station’s smokestack at exactly 11 a.m. Tuesday as part of the third demolition in the past year to dismantle the shuttered coal-fired power plant along the Monongahela River in Union Township.

The plant, which was built in 1950 and straddles the county line between Allegheny and Washington counties near Route 837, was originally operated by Duquesne Light Co., but later purchased by NRG/GenOn, which deactivated it in 2012.

Trogon Development LLC purchased the property for $5.13 million in March 2021, although it’s not known what the company plans to do with the 28-acre property.