As a member of the Memphis community, TVA is taking action to ensure its operating and legacy facilities help protect the city’s prized drinking water quality.

As outlined in a new video, TVA is actively taking steps to protect the Deep Memphis Sand Aquifer — the source of Memphis drinking water — now and into the future. 

“The Memphis Sand Aquifer is a precious commodity to the citizens of Memphis and Shelby County. TVA shares the same sentiment, and we are actively working to manage coal ash at the former Allen Fossil Plant and facilitating site redevelopment to benefit the city,” said Mark Creech, TVA-Memphis Executive Director.

Across its seven-state service area, TVA is converting all its wet storage of coal ash to dry storage. Specifically at the Allen site, TVA will:

• Pump and treat water from in and around the Allen fossil site’s east ash pond.
• Conduct an environmental review. The preferred alternative in this review is to remove the ash in the pond for reuse or transport offsite.
• Continue to monitor groundwater quality to ensure that conditions are stable and safe.
• At the nearby Allen Combined Cycle Natural Gas Plant, TVA is obtaining cooling water from MLGW and not using the groundwater production wells at the site.

“My family and I are members of this community, and we want to see its natural assets grow and flourish, especially the Memphis aquifer. TVA wants to do whatever possible to ensure that it remains safe, both now and far into the future,” Creech said.