ESTACK IMPLOSION

NEW: Xcel Energy to implode smokestack in St. Paul

ST. PAUL (AP) -- A 570-foot smokestack that's part of a power plant in St. Paul will soon be a pile of dust.

Xcel Energy plans to implode the smokestack Saturday morning. The utility says the 36-year-old structure is being brought down to make way for cleaner technology.

The smokestack weighs more than 57-hundred tons, so imploding the structure is taking some planning.

Company officials say a small explosive charge will destroy key elements in the base. The smokestack is then expected to drop straight down for a few feet before falling like a tree.

While there will be a lot of dust, officials say the smokestack will be largely intact when it lands on the ground.

Xcel is replacing the coal-burning power plant the smokestack was attached to and replacing it with one fired by natural gas.