TVA probe finds 'connection' between Memphis Sand and contaminated aquifer

Contractors are installing two 2.5 million-gallon tanks to store water purchased from MLGW to help operate a new gas plant being built to replace the Allen Fossil Plant in Memphis.
Contractors are installing two 2.5 million-gallon tanks to store water purchased from MLGW to help operate a new gas plant being built to replace the Allen Fossil Plant in Memphis.

In a report assessing whether production wells at a TVA power plant could threaten local drinking water, investigators found that a shallow aquifer containing arsenic, lead and other contaminants is connected to the vital Memphis Sand aquifer.

During tests in which water was pumped from the wells at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Allen Combined Cycle Plant, there was a "discernible drawdown" in the shallower Alluvial aquifer even though the wells drew from the Memphis Sand, TVA said Wednesday in summarizing a remedial investigation report submitted to the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

The drawdown, according to the summary, means there's a "hydraulic connection" between the Alluvial aquifer, where high levels of arsenic and other toxins were discovered near a TVA coal ash pond, and the Memphis Sand, the source of tap water throughout Shelby County.

Read more at our news partner's website, commercialappeal.com.

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