Asbestos Cleanup Work Inside Old Acme Power Plant Building To Start Soon

An old building along the Tongue River that could be considered an eye sore based on its current condition, is even worse inside, according to those who have recently entered it.

Asbestos cleanup inside the old Acme Power Plant building will begin soon.

The Sheridan County Conservation District is paying for the cleanup via a grant from the EPA.

The grant will pay for cleanup for most of the building and is contracted to be completed by the end of June of next year, but if more funding can be secured for the rest of the building, the timeline can be extended.

The cleanup work requires the use of water, thus once the temperature gets too cold, work will have to stop until it warms up enough to resume.

Work may also include demolition of two of the old turbine rooms, because the roof is collapsing in those areas and it poses a safety concern.

Horsley Specialties out of Rapid City, South Dakota will be the company that will be doing the asbestos cleanup work.

Owner and President Zack Horsley got to see the inside of the power plant building during a pre-bid inspection and says in terms of how deteriorated and torn up things are inside, it’s some of the worst he’s ever seen.

“Definitely a unique experience, there’s a mess, birds, partying in the past that have really torn up the material inside the building. Asbestos, it’s been around for years. It’s all over the place. You find it, in here it happens to be in TSI, Thermal Systems Insulation, but it’s in roofing, flooring, all over the place, so it’s really important that you have your building inspected before you do any work and cut into stuff.”

On Monday, August 19th, the Sheridan County Conservation District held an informational public update regarding work that’s being done at the old Power Plant Building.

Tours were conducted on the property outside the building, but not in the building itself.

Old Community of Acme Location:

Tongue River Diversion Location Into The Power Plant (The Diversion was mostly removed in 2023):