TVA cleared to drill final two wells

Drinking water to cool TVA plant

Capping weeks of controversy, Shelby County Health Department officials said Wednesday they have approved permits authorizing the Tennessee Valley Authority to drill the final two wells it sought to obtain cooling water for the Allen Combined Cycle Plant under construction in Southwest Memphis.

The decision, announced by department Director Alisa Haushalter before the County Commission’s Health and Hospitals Committee, means TVA will be able to complete the five wells from which it plans to draw an average of about 3.5 million gallons of water daily from the Memphis Sand aquifer, the high-quality source of public drinking water in the area. Permits for the first three 650-footdeep wells were granted between May and July.

TVA is building the $975 million natural gasfired generating facility in Frank C. Pidgeon Industrial Park to replace the nearby 57-year-old Allen Fossil Plant, which burns coal. The older plant is being retired under a consent order resolving air-pollution violations across the TVA region.

While applauding the transition to a cleanerburning plant, local environmentalists have criticized TVA’s decision to use pristine aquifer water to cool the facility. They’ve called on the agency to use effluent from a nearby wastewater treatment plant or water purchased from Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division — options TVA officials have called too expensive and problematic.

Interviewed after appearing at the committee meeting, Haushalter said the department listened to the concerns of environmentalists as well of elected officials and others. But the proposed wells met the criteria set by the county’s well ordinance, which sets minimum distances from septic tanks, fuel lines and other hazards.

“In the end, based on current code, there was no basis for us as a Health Department to deny the permits,” Haushalter said.

TVA spokesman Chris Stanley said the agency “appreciates the county’s review and approval of