"The Tennessee Valley Authority has polluted groundwater supplies around all of its coal-fired power plants – including ones near Gallatin and Clarksville, a national environmental group concluded in a report released Thursday."

"The toxic pollutants include arsenic, boron, cobalt, manganese and sulfate, and all are the byproducts of burning coal and storing the coal-ash waste in ponds or landfills surrounding TVA’s 11 power plants in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama.

Those pollutants pose serious human health concerns. Arsenic, for example, has been linked to cancer, and boron may harm developing fetuses.

The new report from the Washington, D.C-based Environmental Integrity Project comes as the five-year anniversary of the Kingston coal ash spill nears next month. In 2008, a dike broke, spilling 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash into local waterways and over 300 acres of land."

Duane W. Gang reports for the Nashville Tennessean November 7, 2013. [2]