Updated 3/20/2013 6:30 P.M.

If you drive Ohio route seven between Belpre and Marietta...you can't miss it.

The old coal burning power plant is coming down.

In fact, the smokestack about all that remains of the 1950's-era Gorsuch Generatingplant.

American Municipal Power tells us that should be coming down by summer.

Terry Tamburini, of the Washington County Port Authority, says he's had discussions-but not actual negotiations-with the company about the future of that site.

One possible use, Tamburini says, is a rail connection from current CSX lines to the Ohio River.

EPA requirements for coal-fired power plants prompted AMP-Ohio to shut down, and now tear down, the plant.

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Updated 1/25/2013 5:15 PM

Heavy snowfall didn't stop the process of demolishing a power plant which operated in Washington County for nearly 60 years.

American Municipal Power, or AMP-Ohio, shut down the Richard Gorsuch Generating Station at the end of 2010.

That was after the company reached an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency, over violations of Clean Air Act requirements.

At the time of the closing AMP-Ohio said the cost of making required renovations to the plant wouldn't be cost-effective.

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It may be several months until we know what is going to happen with an old power plant in the Mid-Ohio Valley.

American Municipal Power…also known as AMP…says it is still trying to figure out what to do with its old Gorsuch Power Generating facility on Route 7, between Belpre and Marietta.

The facility closed late last year, when AMP decided it could not meet clean air guidelines.

It has been sitting idle ever since.

A spokeswoman for AMP says the company believes the property and facility are valuable assets and could have other uses within the company.

Jolene Thompson says the company is not looking for a buyer at this time.

WTAP has contacted the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority, to see if there is any date by which AMP must put the site to use, sell it, or begin cleaning it up.

No word yet from that Authority on that time line.