Dominion Energy has removed more than 3.5 million tons of coal ash from the Midlands.

The ash had been stored in a 100-acre pond at the company’s Wateree Station power plant near Eastover.

The Lexington County-based utility said the federal Environmental Protection Administration endorses the benefits of using coal ash in cement and wallboard.

About 79% of the ash has been recycled. The ash that is not recycled has been transferred to a lined Class-III landfill on site.

To close all its ash ponds in South Carolina, Dominion’s predecessor, SC Electric & Gas Company reached a agreement with the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control in 2011 to remove all ash from the Wateree Station by 2022.

DHEC inspectors reported the ash removal completed 13 months ahead of that.