NASHVILLE, July 25 (UPI) -- Groundwater at some Tennessee Valley Authority coal ash sites is contaminated with arsenic and other toxic pollutants and is a health hazard, a report says.
Levels at the Gallatin plant site in Sumner County and at the Cumberland site, 50 miles northwest of Nashville, are at health-hazard levels, the report by the TVA's Office of Inspector General says.
Beryllium, cadmium and nickel levels are above drinking water standards at Gallatin, as are arsenic, selenium and vanadium at Cumberland, The (Nashville) Tennessean reported Monday.
In addition, arsenic above allowable levels was repeatedly found in groundwater at TVA's' Allen coal-fired plant in Memphis, the report said.
The plant and its ash ponds lie above a deep, high-quality aquifer that supplies drinking water to Memphis and nearby areas.
"I was not aware of this until today [Friday]," said Chuck Head, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation's senior director for land programs.
"We would obviously have liked them to report it to us when they found the arsenic. But now that we have the information we are going to work with them to try to resolve the problem."
Coal ash, once considered harmless, has been shown to contain a variety of heavy metals in low concentrations that can leach into drinking water sources and pose "significant public health concerns," an EPA report has said.
