Ford megasite atop 'recharge zone' for underregulated Memphis Sands aquifer

Ford Motor Co. promises a green future at its Blue Oval campus, where it will produce zero-emissions pickup trucks with advanced batteries. But forthcoming plans and actions in the new year will prove whether the company and the state are committed to protecting the existing environment at the megasite – like the Memphis Sands aquifer beneath it.

In the aquifer, sheets of clay and water-saturated sands go down 3,500 vertical feet, stacked like a layered cake. But in a thin area stretched between the Mississippi and Kentucky borderlines is an absence of clay near the surface, where rainwater can infiltrate into the ground quickly and directly replenish a water source that more than a million people rely on for drinking water.

Part of this recharge zone is underneath Ford’s megasite that spans nearly six square miles —almost the same size as downtown Memphis.

“Right in the middle of Memphis, you’ve got a shallow aquifer below you, then you’ve got the clay layer, then you’ve got the Memphis Sands, so it takes a while for rain to actually help replenish anything,” said Protect Our Aquifer (POA) Executive Director Sarah Houston.

Read more: https://tennesseelookout.com/2022/01/03/ford-megasite-atop-recharge-zone-for-underregulated-memphis-sands-aquifer/