Regulator gives Tennessee Valley Authority approval to bury coal ash in Southeast Memphis

The Tennessee Valley Authority received the final regulatory approval it needs to remove tons of coal ash from ponds in Southwest Memphis and transport them along Shelby Drive to a landfill in Southeast Memphis. 

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation gave final approval to TVA's removal plans on Friday, a spokeswoman said Tuesday morning. 

The approval of TVA's remediation plan is the final regulatory barrier to coal ash removal. The work will be conducted by Republic Services, a contractor hired by TVA. Republic will take the ash by truck to the South Shelby landfill, which it owns. The plan is bury the ash in lined pits to prevent leaching into the ground. 

More:Memphis landfill 'looks like the best choice' for coal ash despite council objection, TVA CEO says

"We continue to collaborate with our partners — [Memphis, Light Gas and Water, the City of Memphis, the Memphis and Shelby County Port Authority and Shelby County]— on addressing this shared responsibility," TVA spokesman Buddy Eller said. He did not give a date for when removal would start. 

The years-long removal process and the transportation route through predominantly Black neighborhoods could prove to be another flashpoint in Memphis' burgeoning environmental justice movement, one that helped stop the proposed Byhalia Connection Pipeline in 2021.

It could also illuminate the extent of the coal ash's environmental impact. The ash has been stored in pits above the Memphis Sand aquifer, the region's drinking water supply, for years. 

More:'I find that hard to believe': Memphis City Council dissatisfied with TVA's answers on coal ash

Justin J. Pearson, co-founder of Memphis Community Against Pollution, criticized the approval and the way TVA conducted the public feedback process about the Allen coal ash removal. 

"The truth is this process has been opaque, has lacked public transparency and input from the permits that TDEC approved such as the special waste permit to the announcement that TVA made. It is another example of environmental racism and injustice where communities that are going to be most impacted are not included or meaningfully involved in the process. And that is wrong," Pearson said. 

'We understand the urgency'  

Pearson, MCAP and other local environmental groups are not against removal of the coal ash. They, like TVA and TDEC, agree it is a threat to the Memphis Sand aquifer, the city's drinking water supply. 

"We understand the urgency of the situation. And we want for the coal ash to be removed. We do not want the communities that are dealing with hundreds of trucks per day and with thousands of trucks over a decade to have no idea what is about to happen to them with toxic coal ash riding right next to them on city streets. That's unfair and wrong," Pearson said. 

At present, the ash sits in two different ponds near the old Allen Fossil Plant in unlined ponds. Groundwater-monitoring wells have been placed around the those ponds to gauge how chemicals associated with coal ash have affected the aquifer. 

Research this released year from the Center for Applied Earth Sciences and Engineering Research at the University of Memphis showed how runoff from the ponds, which contains arsenic and other chemicals, could reach the Memphis Sand, an assertion TVA disputed. 

Sarah Houston, executive director of Protect Our Aquifer, criticized TVA's public relations process Tuesday but noted it is unclear what is happening below the ash ponds and whether serious damage is being done to the aquifer. 

"I think there's a sense of urgency to move the coal ash and TVA needs to be outright about why there is a sense of urgency. It's because there's active, toxic elements, leaking into our drinking water supply. We only know what's happened outside the perimeter of the coal ash pits," Houston said. "We don't know about what's going on directly below them. And that's where as this move continues to unfold, we really need to be aware of the true extent of the pollution. How do we stop in its tracks before it begins to reach Davis Wellfield."

TVA's plan to keep the coal ash in Memphis have long drawn the ire of U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, the Memphis representative and a frequent critic of the power provider. He wrote a letter to TVA CEO Jeff Lyash Monday expressing his disapproval. 

"While I absolutely share TVA's goal to remove the ash from unlined pits at the Allen Fossil Plant and remove the threat to the City of Memphis' drinking water, I believe the South Memphis community deserves answers to the aforementioned questions before three million cubic yards of toxic coal ash is transported through their neighborhood for the next several years," Cohen wrote. 

TVA's plans to bury the coal ash in Memphis first became widely known this July. After admonishment from the Memphis City Council and community members, TVA said it would pause the plans and search for more community feedback. 

That pause and community feedback did not change executives at TVA's mind and two weeks ago Lyash told The CA that the South Shelby landfill looked like the best place for the coal ash. 

The TVA CEO did not appear concerned with how TVA's decision about where to bury the coal ash would affect MLGW's potential decision about where it should buy electricity. 

"We're all responsible and it's important that we do the responsible thing. And you know, prime among what the priorities are for me isn't influencing some future decision. It's protecting the aquifer and disposing of this coal ash in the right way. That's what we're doing," Lyash said. 

Samuel Hardiman covers Memphis city government, politics, energy and environmental topics for The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached by email at samuel.hardiman@commercialappeal.com or followed on Twitter at @samhardiman.