‘Toxic Tour' highlights efforts to clean polluted areas in North Memphis

Yahoo

2 days ago

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — There are calls to preserve Memphis' reputation for having some of the cleanest water in the country.
This weekend, the non-profit, Protect Our Aquifer, is telling people about the importance of preserving and conserving the city's drinking water.
They're doing that by hosting what they call a 'Toxic Tour' in North Memphis.
During that tour, they'll show and teach attendees about the history of polluted sites in the area.
Protect the Aquifer's executive director, Sarah Houston, tells WREG they want attendees to learn about the need for attention and cleanup at these polluted sites.
'So, today, 'Protect Our Aquifer' and also on Sunday, we are hosting toxic tours in North Memphis, taking folks to Velsicol Chemical, to ADM and to the Hollywood dump to see what these sites look like today,' Houston said.
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Organizers told WREG that they want to educate the community about the past and stress the importance of cleaning up those specific sites to reduce pollution in North Memphis.
The group also informed the community about the Memphis Sand Aquifer at the annual Juneteenth Douglass Freedom and Heritage Festival.
'So, what we've done here, as a water warrior team, was create an aquifer education station,' said Kathy Temple.
They also said they want to make sure xAI does not impact the Memphis Sand Aquifer.
'So, instead of using good ancient aquifer water, they have pledged to build a recycled wastewater plant,' Houston said. 'Now, this takes stuff we've already flushed down the toilet, cleans it up, so they can use it.'
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The group told Your News Leader that xAI is a new, big water user and it eventually plans to use five million gallons of water a day.
However, organizers said it has promised to build and use a recycled wastewater plant that will not impact the city's drinking water.
'So, we want them to follow through on that promise and not only have xAI use it, but [the] TVA, (Tennessee Valley Authority) uses recycled wastewater too,' Houston said. 'So we don't want Memphis drinking recycled wastewater. We want industries that are cooling computers, our power plants, to use that instead.'
On Tuesday June 24, there will be 'Aquifer Action Meetings' at the Whitehaven Library.
The first session is from 4:30 – 6 P.M. and the second begins at 6 and ends at 7:30 P.M.
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