Tennessee Valley Authority
Widows Creek Gypsum Pond Overflow Environmental Update
Updated Monday, January 19, 2009
TVA, EPA, and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) received results this week from a second laboratory that analyzed water samples taken Jan. 9, 10, 11 and 12 after a gypsum settling pond overflowed at TVA’s Widows Creek Fossil Plant.
TVA and EPA sampled water independently through January 12. TVA continues to collect samples. The agencies are working from a coordinated water sampling plan and communicating with ADEM on results. Each agency uses certified laboratories for analysis.
TVA sent samples collected on Friday, Jan. 9, to Environmental Science Corp. (ESC) in Mt. Juliet, TN, and to MicroBac Laboratories of Maryville, TN. Subsequent samples were sent to ESC.
TVA completes checks for data quality on the results from all labs prior to posting it on its web site.
Based on the data currently available, the TVA samples taken from locations on the Tennessee River from January 10-12 show levels of metals, solids and nutrients detected in the untreated drinking water intakes and surface water samples meet national primary drinking water standards. Primary drinking water standards apply to public water systems for treated water and are conservative for the protection of human health.
According to the formal sampling plan, initial samples were taken from the drinking water intake for Scottsboro, AL on Jan 10. Daily sampling continues from stations from County Road Bridge about half a mile upstream on Widows Creek, from the Tennessee River about one mile upstream from Widows Creek, from the Gypsum Area Access Bridge about 1/8 mile downstream on Widows Creek, from the permitted discharge #008, one mile upstream and 600 feet downstream from the confluence on the Tennessee River, and from a location downstream near the Highway 117 bridge that crosses the Tennessee River about five miles downstream from Widows Creek.