Protecting aquifer’s health a ‘top priority,’ Sen. Akbari says
NASHVILLE — Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis) will oppose any legislation that allows unwanted drilling above the Memphis sand aquifer.
Senate Bill 2668, which is scheduled to be introduced on March 4 in the Senate Energy, Agriculture and Natural Resources Committeee, could weaken the state law that provides local governments “home rule” authority over well drilling permits.
“I will oppose any legislative effort to strip away of the rights of Memphians to protect our aquifer from unwanted drilling,” Akbari said. “For generations, the Memphis sand aquifer has provided the people of Shelby County clean and safe water at an affordable price. The aquifer is essential to the health and well being of nearly one million Tennesseans and protecting this natural resource, which cannot be replaced, must be a top priority.”
The sand aquifer is the city’s sole source of drinking water, according to The Memphis Commercial Appeal, which, in 2016, said the aquifer was “arguably the city’s greatest natural resource — a buried treasure in the truest sense.”
In 2019, the Center for Applied Earth Science and Engineering Research at the University of Memphis launched a five-year study to explore issues affecting the Memphis Sand Aquifer, including at least 15 breaches in the protective clay layer that could allow contaminants to trickle into the drinking water supply.
