Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee Archives

State appropriates $15 million that could be used for Oak Ridge Airport

Posted at 1:07 pm December 11, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Image from a Billy Stair presentation on the Oak Ridge Airport project to Roane County officials at the Roane County Courthouse in Kingston on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017.

KINGSTON—Tennessee officials have appropriated $15 million that could be used for the proposed airport at Heritage Center, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge.

The appropriation, which is pending approval of the Oak Ridge Airport by the Federal Aviation Administration, would be enough to cover about 33 percent to 38 percent of the current estimated project cost of $40 million to $45 million.

The appropriation was announced by Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner John C. Schroer in a November 8 letter to members of the Tennessee General Assembly. Oak Ridge Today received a copy of the letter on Monday.

The $15 million that could be used for the Oak Ridge Airport is one half of a $30 million appropriation approved by the Tennessee General Assembly for the Aeronautics Economic Development Fund earlier this year, said Billy Stair, a former communications director at Oak Ridge National Laboratory who is now a consultant helping with the airport project. That half was to support the construction of new general aviation airports like the project in Oak Ridge, and Oak Ridge received all of the $15 million for general aviation airports, Stair said.

“MKAA (Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority) is the only public entity in the state with planning documents for a new airport currently under review,” Schroer said in his November letter to legislators. The $15 million will be allocated to the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority, which would own and operate the Oak Ridge Airport, pending FAA approval. [Read more…]

Roane County Commission to discuss Oak Ridge Airport on Thursday, Dec. 7

Posted at 3:32 pm November 29, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Image via Billy Stair presentation at Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority General Aviation Committee meeting on Wednesday, March 15, 2017.

The Roane County Commission will discuss the Oak Ridge Airport, which would be built at Heritage Center, the former K-25 site, during a workshop next week.

The workshop is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, December 7, in the Qualls Commission Room at the Roane County Courthouse.

Oak Ridge Today reported in March that there are additional steps and approvals required, but if all goes well, construction on the airport could start in late 2018 or early 2019.

The airport could still cost an estimated $35 million to $40 million, officials said at the time. It would be funded with a mix of federal funding, state aeronautical commission funding, and local funding from the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority, or MKAA.

The MKAA General Aviation Committee approved an airport layout plan during a meeting at McGhee Tyson Airport in Alcoa in March. The plan was going to be sent to the Federal Aviation Administration for review and approval after that meeting. The airport layout plan is a detailed document that includes runway lengths, approaches, runway ramps, and taxiways. [Read more…]

About 185 acres at Heritage Center transferred to CROET

Posted at 1:41 pm October 23, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The image above showing reindustrialization progress at East Tennessee Technology Park comes from a presentation on Oct. 11, 2017, by Dave Adler by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. The K-31/K-33 area is the blue area at the top right side of the ETTP site, and Duct Island is the purple/pink area just below it and slightly to the left. The former K-25 Building was in the yellow area at center. The proposed airport is at the bottom right in the blue and purple/pink area on the north side of State Route 58.

About 185 acres in the northwest corner of Heritage Center, the former K-25 site, have been transferred to the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee.

CROET is a nonprofit organization that helps find new uses for former U.S. Department of Energy property.

The 185 acres transferred to CROET at Heritage Center are where the K-31 and K-33 buildings used to be. The property transfer was recorded at the Roane County courthouse on October 10, said Lawrence Young, CROET president.

“We hope to be able to attract, over time, larger industrial clients,” Young said Monday.

The parcels are currently vacant, and they have been cleaned up by the U.S. Department of Energy and UCOR, DOE’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge. There should not be any impediments to using the parcels as industrial property from an environmental standpoint, Young said. [Read more…]

Out of service for decades, barge area at ETTP used again

Posted at 11:47 am October 17, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

UniTech equipment transported from Michigan is unloaded at the barge access area at the East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge in 2017. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management)

This story, which has been lightly edited here, was originally published in the EM Update on October 17 by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management.

Reindustrialization efforts at the East Tennessee Technology Park have brought new life to an old barge access area out of service for decades.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management is cleaning and converting the former uranium enrichment complex into a private sector industrial park, and companies are seeing significant signs of progress and potential.

In September, UniTech Services Group, a private business at ETTP, the former K-25 site, needed to transport large industrial equipment from Michigan and noted the site’s neglected barge area. The company worked with DOE and the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee to use this area, and successfully shipped the equipment to ETTP using the Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee navigable river systems. [Read more…]

General Assembly approves bill that would establish CROET as ETTP manager

Posted at 4:35 pm April 21, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The East Tennessee Technology Park, now known as Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge, is pictured above in this aerial photo from 2015. The large building that extends from left to right at left-center is the former K-27 Building, where demolition work was completed in August 2016. (Photo courtesy CROET)

The Tennessee General Assembly has approved legislation that would establish the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, or CROET, as the manager of the 1,300-acre East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge, a press release said.

The legislation was sponsored by Tennessee Senator Ken Yager and Representative Kent Calfee, both Kingston Republicans. It has been sent to Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam for his signature.

East Tennessee Technology Park, or ETTP, is also known as Heritage Center and the former K-25 site. It once housed the K-25 Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which was built during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project. That was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons, before Germany could.

The ETTP site, once used to enrich uranium, is slowly being cleaned up. K-25 operations ended in 1985, and the site was permanently shut down in 1987. Now, it is being slowly converted into a large industrial park. Proponents hope it will become one of East Tennessee’s prime locations for new industry, the press release said.

CROET President Lawrence Young said the state legislation “is the latest step in efforts by the Department of Energy and CROET to reindustrialize the former K-25 site and help diversify the region’s economy.” [Read more…]

Slides: See more information on the Oak Ridge Airport project

Posted at 8:32 pm March 16, 2017
By John Huotari 2 Comments

A Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority committee on Wednesday approved a layout plan for the proposed Oak Ridge Airport. The plan will now be sent to the Federal Aviation Administration for review and approval.

As reported in a Wednesday story, there are additional steps and approvals required. But if all goes well, construction on the airport could start in late 2018 or early 2019, officials said Wednesday.

Slides included in this story include more information about the proposed airport. We encourage you to read the earlier story as well.

The airport could cost an estimated $35 million to $40 million, officials said Wednesday. It would be funded with a mix of federal funding, state aeronautical commission funding, and local funding from the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority, or MKAA. [Read more…]

Construction on Oak Ridge Airport could start late next year, early 2019

Posted at 6:27 pm March 15, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Image via Billy Stair presentation at Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority General Aviation Committee meeting on Wednesday, March 15, 2017.

Note: This story was last updated at 2 a.m.

There are additional steps and approvals required, but if all goes well, construction on the Oak Ridge Airport on the west end of town could start in late 2018 or early 2019, officials said Wednesday.

The airport could still cost an estimated $35 million to $40 million, officials said. It would be funded with a mix of federal funding, state aeronautical commission funding, and local funding from the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority, or MKAA.

On Wednesday, the MKAA General Aviation Committee approved an airport layout plan during a meeting at McGhee Tyson Airport in Alcoa. The plan will now be sent to the Federal Aviation Administration for review and approval.

“It’s a very important step for us,” said Bill Marrison, president of the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority. [Read more…]

First of its kind, Oak Ridge’s federal re-industrialization program celebrates 20 years

Posted at 3:41 pm December 18, 2016
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

east-tennessee-technology-park-2020-rendering-1

A rendering of East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, in 2020, when cleanup there is scheduled for completion. ETTP offers robust infrastructure and multiple parcels spanning hundreds of acres, capable of attracting and supporting large-scale industry, according to DOE. (Photo courtesy DOE)

Note: This is an edited version of a story by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management.

A re-industrialization program that was the first of its kind and converts federal property to private-sector use celebrated 20 years this month.

The re-industrialization program was designed to attract new industries and jobs to a former uranium enrichment complex.

Through the program, the U.S. Department of Energy has transferred hundreds of acres to the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, or CROET, and the City of Oak Ridge to create two private-sector industrial parks, the 1,200-acre Heritage Center and the 1,000-acre Horizon Center.

Heritage Center is at the former K-25 site, which was built during World War II and was once used to enrich uranium in west Oak Ridge. Horizon Center is a few miles east of Heritage Center. [Read more…]

Report: Medical isotope company plans to build manufacturing facility in Oak Ridge

Posted at 9:51 pm October 9, 2016
By John Huotari 3 Comments

A building at the entrance of Heritage Center is pictured above. (Photo by CROET)

Note: This story was updated at 8:45 a.m. Oct. 10.

A Florida newspaper reported on Wednesday that a medical isotope company will build a manufacturing facility in Oak Ridge, rather than relocating to a city in north Florida.

Coquí RadioPharmaceutical had planned to build a $250 million manufacturing facility in Alachua, which is near Gainesville, with 164 jobs paying an average of $75,000, the Gainesville Sun reported.

But the company announced Wednesday that it will instead build its facility in Oak Ridge, lured by a gift of 170 acres from the U.S. Department of Energy and the opportunity to work with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a DOE lab, the newspaper said.

On Saturday, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said he is aware of the company, and it is working with the state of Tennessee. [Read more…]

Opinion: Alexander discusses ETTP demolition, development; Oak Ridge cleanup work

Posted at 9:21 am September 1, 2016
By Lamar Alexander Leave a Comment

Lamar Alexander

By Lamar Alexander

This week marked the end of an era. The last of the five uranium enrichment buildings in Oak Ridge has been cleaned up, making land available for new companies and new jobs coming to East Tennessee.

Tennessee should be extremely proud of the men and women who have worked for more than a decade to complete the demolition and cleanup at the East Tennessee Technology Park.

The story of how these buildings first came to be built is by now a familiar one. In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Senator Kenneth McKellar, the Tennessean who chaired the Appropriations Committee, to hide $2 billion for a secret project to win World War II. McKellar replied, “Mr. President, I have just one question: Where in Tennessee do you want me to hide it?”

They hid it in Oak Ridge, on 2,200 acres along the Clinch River, where they quietly built K-25, the largest building in the world, to enrich uranium through gaseous diffusion—a complicated and now mostly obsolete process. [Read more…]

Solar plant at Heritage Center honored with sustainability award

Posted at 3:47 pm May 31, 2016
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

An aerial view of Oak Ridge’s third solar array development at Heritage Center, which was built by a team honored with a U.S. Department of Energy Sustainability Award. (Photo courtesy DOE EM)

A solar power plant in west Oak Ridge is one of two projects recognized with 2016 Energy Sustainability Awards by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Teams at the two DOE Environmental Management, or EM, sites were recognized for spearheading projects that have saved taxpayer dollars while promoting efficiency and smart use of DOE resources, a press release said.

“The DOE Sustainability Performance Office highlighted efforts at the Oak Ridge and Savannah River sites as outstanding contributions to the department’s goal of improving environmental, energy, and economic performance while reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” the press release said.

UCOR, the prime contractor for Oak Ridge’s EM program, helped the small business subcontractor Restoration Services Inc. team with community partners to build a one-megawatt utility scale photovoltaic power generating project called Powerhouse Six that became operational in April 2015. [Read more…]

Reminder: Property transfer for airport to be discussed during info session today

Posted at 8:55 am August 19, 2015
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Heritage Center airport development plan is pictured above. The airport site is the area pictured in yellow. The main entrance to Heritage Center off Oak Ridge Turnpike is at bottom left, in the area of the ponds. (Cropped image from DOE Draft Environmental Assessment)

About 170 acres of land at a federal site in west Oak Ridge could be transferred to a nonprofit organization for a new general aviation airport that would feature a 5,000-foot runway and accommodate airplanes and helicopters.

The airport would be built on the south side of Heritage Center, which is also known as East Tennessee Technology Park and the former K-25 site. The runway would be close to and run roughly parallel to Oak Ridge Turnpike/State Route 58.

A draft environmental assessment, or EA, has been prepared for the property transfer. It evaluates the potential impacts of transferring the ETTP land from the U.S. Department of Energy to the nonprofit Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority. DOE and MKAA representatives will be available to discuss the proposed action during a public information session from 5-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, August 19, at the DOE Information Center. The Information Center is on the west end of the building that houses the Office of Scientific and Technical Information in east Oak Ridge.

No formal presentation is planned, and the public may stop by at any time during the session. [Read more…]