Facility Profile ×
Cumberland Fossil Plant
815 Cumberland City RoadCumberland, TN 37050
Owner - Operator
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)
Impoundment Hazard Rating
None
Well Count
8
total with8
reporting at least one exceedance| Well ID | Exceedances | Status |
|---|---|---|
| CUF-10-1 | 4 | 4 |
| CUF-10-2 | 4 | 4 |
| CUF-93-1 | 21 | 21 |
| CUF-93-2 | 32 | 32 |
| CUF-93-2R | 42 | 42 |
| CUF-93-3 | 22 | 22 |
| CUF-93-4 | 25 | 25 |
| CUF-RS | 7 | 7 |
Total Exceedances / Total Samples
157 / 1,675 9%
Pollutant Details
About Cumberland Fossil Plant
The Cumberland Fossil Plant is located on the shores of the Barkley Reservoir on the Cumberland River. It has two coal-fired generating units. Cumberland’s ash disposal area was originally one large ash pond. TVA installed sulfur dioxide scrubbers in 1994, and in 1995-1996 separated the area into the current configuration: The ash pond receives wet-sluiced bottom ash, which is dredged and stacked in the dry fly ash disposal area, and fly ash is dry-handled and stacked in the dry fly ash disposal area. Gypsum is wet-sluiced to the gypsum disposal area or directly routed to a neighboring gypsum processing plant. The dry fly ash and gypsum disposal areas are therefore built over an unknown amount of sluiced bottom and fly ash that was left in the original ash pond. TVA has had ongoing problems with seepage along the west perimeter dike, along the bank of Wells Creek. Groundwater under the site is in contact with ash and, in some places, gypsum.
The area surrounding TVA Cumberland is rural, and the overwhelming majority of drinking water sources in Stewart County are drawn from groundwater, according to the U.S. EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Information System. Those that are not drawing from groundwater take water from the Cumberland River.
More information can be found about this site in EIP’s report, TVA’s Toxic Legacy, available here.