Justin J. Pearson, left, grew up near the Allen Fossil Plant, right, which has polluted local water sources. Photos courtesy of the Southern Environmental Law Center
Tipping Point covers environmental justice stories about and, where possible, written by people in the communities experiencing the stark reality of our changing planet.
Though retired in 2018, the plant site still contains large piles of coal ash that have yet to be cleaned up. And those piles could potentially leak heavy chemicals into the Memphis Sand Aquifer, the primary source of drinking water for Shelby County, according to a June report from the University of Memphis’ Center for Applied Earth Science and Engineering Research (CAESER). “The folks who are going to be most impacted by that first are Black,” said Pearson, a lead organizer of a grassroots group called Memphis Community Against Pollution. “This is extraordinarily problematic and also scary.”The utility has known for years that its Allen facility is polluting nearby water sources. In 2017, the Tennessee Valley Authority along with state environmental officials revealed high levels of arsenic near the former coal plant—in one groundwater well arsenic levels were more than 300 times higher than federally mandated limits. Arsenic can cause cancer when ingested for prolonged periods of time.
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But the new report from CAESER found there is a potential gap in the clay layer that separates these two water sources. “The findings show that water from the surface is starting to move vertically downward,” said Houston, who until recently was an associate director at CAESER. “That’s where the concern lies: The arsenic is not there yet, but it’s coming towards us; it’s almost like a ticking time bomb that we need to disarm immediately.”A spokesperson for the Tennessee Valley Authority referred VICE News to a press release, which described the study as “preliminary” and “tentative.” “The Memphis aquifer is a precious natural resource and TVA remains committed to its continued protection,” J. Cedric Adams, principal project manager at the Allen Fossil Plant, said in the release. “It is important to note that publicly available data shows that activities at the Allen Fossil Plant have not impacted the Memphis aquifer.”The arsenic is “like a ticking time bomb that we need to disarm immediately”
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