Oak Ridge Today

Eighth rowing lane could cost more than $500,000, up to about $1.2 million

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Cardinal-Invitational-Regatta-West-Virginia-Rowing-March-12-2016

Twelve of the nation’s best NCAA Division I women’s rowing teams competed this month in the Cardinal Invitational Regatta in Oak Ridge. Pictured above, a West Virginia University team competes at Oak Ridge Marina on Saturday, March 12, 2016. The eighth lane would require some work along the Melton Lake Drive side of the course, which is on the right side of this picture. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 5:30 p.m.

An eighth lane at the seven-lane Oak Ridge rowing course could cost more than $500,000 and up to about $1.2 million, officials said Tuesday.

The eighth lane has been on the wish list of rowers and many local officials for years. They say it would allow the Oak Ridge Rowing Association to compete for bigger races and international regattas, which require an eighth lane. It would also keep the site a top-tier rowing venue and provide more on-water capacity, allowing more competitors in events. It’s also expected to significantly increase the economic impact of rowing races, or regattas.

Officials announced a $250,000 state grant for the eighth lane in April 2015.

In August, the city hired Barge, Waggoner, Sumner, and Cannon Inc. for design and survey work, among other tasks.

A March 1 memo from BWSC to Jon Hetrick, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks director, outlines five construction options with various estimates of probable costs ranging between $543,771 and $1,162,444. The five estimated construction costs include a 20 percent contingency. All five options would include a retaining wall and earthwork, which would include excavation and dredging. [Read more…]

Cedar Springs Homeschool wins DOE Tennessee Science Bowl

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Winning first place in the 2016 Tennessee Science Bowl is Cedar Springs Homeschool of Knoxville. Pictured left to right with their trophy are Lily Turaski, Josiah Boyle, Tara Conway, Tyler Fulghum, Wesleigh Wright, and Coach Dee Dee Turaski. (DOE photo courtesy Lynn Freeny)

 

Cedar Springs Homeschool advances to National Science Bowl 

Countless hours studying math and science paid off for some exceptionally bright students from Cedar Springs Homeschool. They were first-place winners in the U.S. Department of Energy’s annual Tennessee Science Bowl this past weekend.

Cedar Springs Homeschool competed against 58 other high school teams on Saturday, February 27, to place first in the annual competition. The schools edged out its competition by successfully answering challenging questions in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, earth and space science, and energy.

Held at Pellissippi State Community College’s Blount County Campus, the Tennessee Science Bowl is the nation’s third largest regional competition. The regional bowl prepares students to compete nationally with other exceptional students from schools across the country. As the first-place team, Cedar Springs Homeschool receives an all-expenses-paid trip to the DOE National Science Bowl in Washington, D.C., April 28-May 2, as well as a $1,000 cash prize and a first-place trophy. [Read more…]

Home improvements begin soon under TVA Extreme Energy Makeover

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Gary M. Gilmartin

Gary M. Gilmartin

Oak Ridge officials could start accepting applications at the end of this month for a program that will modify homes with high electrical consumption, with a goal of saving energy.

The modifications are possible under a $2.9 million grant from the Tennessee Valley Authority Extreme Energy Makeover Program. There is no local match required. TVA announced the grant award in September 2015.

Under the program, officials will use energy retrofits to reduce electrical consumption by 25 percent and save a total of 1,000 megawatt hours per year for older homes. The energy retrofits will be offered to 229 qualified residents in Oak Ridge homes that are at least 20 years old.

The targeted implementation date is April 1. [Read more…]

Riverside Grille closed, development sold to Copper Cellar restaurant family

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Riverside-Grille-Closed-Feb-1-2016

The Riverside Grille was closed Monday, Feb. 1, 2016, and developers and businessmen Rick and Ryan Chinn announced the property on Melton Lake Drive has been sold to the Copper Cellar restaurant family. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 11:20 a.m. Feb. 3.

The Riverside Grille was closed on Monday, and developers and businessmen Rick and Ryan Chinn announced the waterfront development on Melton Lake Drive has been sold to the Copper Cellar Family of Restaurants.

It’s not clear which of the Copper Cellar restaurant brands might move into the Oak Ridge restaurant site. Options could include Copper Cellar, Chesapeake’s, Calhoun’s, and Smokey Mountain Brewery, among others.

The Chinns have owned the roughly seven-acre Melton Lake property for 10 years. They have a perpetual easement on it, which is like a long-term lease, from the Tennessee Valley Authority, Rick Chinn said Monday night. The Copper Cellar Family of Restaurants will own the perpetual easement starting this week, including the land, the 12,000-square-foot building, and its parking lots, Chinn said. [Read more…]

Tennessee Tool, Engineering expanding, could add 20 jobs over three years

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Tennessee-Tool-Engineering-Expansion-Jan-19-2016

Tennessee Tool and Engineering has broken ground on a 10,000-square-foot expansion in the Bethel Valley Industrial Park. The company could add up to 20 new jobs during the next three years. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Tennessee Tool and Engineering Inc. has broken ground on a 10,000-square-foot expansion in Bethel Valley Industrial Park, and the company could add up to 20 new jobs during the next three years, executives said.

The groundbreaking was for the company’s High Pressure Die Casting Division: TTE Casting Technologies Inc. The expansion was announced last week by Greg Palmer, TTE vice president/operations manager.

The expansion is part of a $5 million building and capital investment in Oak Ridge and Anderson County, the company said in a press release. Another expansion is planned for 2018 to include the machining operations at the Emory Valley Road location. The company does not plan to pursue tax abatements. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge receives $2.9 million grant from TVA for Energy Makeover

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

The City of Oak Ridge has been selected for a $2.9 million grant from the Tennessee Valley Authority that will “undoubtedly change the lives of people living in legacy Oak Ridge homes by helping them save money on their utility bills,” officials said Friday.

This grant is part of TVA’s Extreme Energy Makeover project and will allow the start of an unprecedented revitalization of the legacy homes in the Oak Ridge community and provide assistance to those that need it the most, a press release said.

“The City of Oak Ridge is honored to be selected for participation and award for use in the Extreme Energy Makeover program, which will be used to encourage use of the legacy housing of the city when it was a ‘Secret City,’” City Manager Mark Watson said. “This investment will demonstrate our housing’s continued value for residents for years to come. As historical housing, our demonstration project has shown that electrical usage can be substantially reduced creating a ‘win-win’ for our residents, TVA, and the Oak Ridge electrical system alike. We look forward to the challenge and partnership with TVA to become a model for the entire TVA service region.” [Read more…]

ACSD enhances security after Chattanooga shooting

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Anderson County Sheriff Patch

The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department sent deputies to provide security at the National Guard Armory in Clinton and to the area around the Tennessee Valley Authority facilities at Norris Dam and Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton after officials learned of the fatal shootings at military centers in Chattanooga on Thursday.

Additional deputies were also sent to the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton and to county government buildings, Anderson County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy Mark Lucas said.

He said the Tennessee Highway Patrol notified the ACSD on Thursday morning, July 16, about the unfolding events in Chattanooga.

“We informed all of our local police departments of this information,” Lucas said. “Our dispatch was also in contact with the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency State Emergency Operations Center in Nashville.” [Read more…]

EPA, TVA have final public meeting today on Kingston ash spill cleanup

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Kingston Fossil Plant Ash Spill Cleanup

Ash that spilled into the brown embayment pictured above had been removed by June 2013, and workers placed a black plastic liner over an ash containment cell in the background, preparing to close it late in 2014. The ash spilled in December 2008 when a storage cell failed at the Kingston Fossil Plant, back left. (File photo)

 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Tennessee Valley Authority have their final public meeting on the cleanup of the 2008 ash spill in Kingston during a meeting this evening (Thursday, June 4).

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation is also participating in the meeting on the Kingston Recovery Project.

The meeting is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 4, in the Roane County High School Auditorium. [Read more…]

Auction company to sell waterfront properties bought by TVA after Kingston ash spill

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Emory River Three Homes for Auction

Three of the Emory River homes up for auction are, from left, 504 Gunters Way, 502 Gunters Way, and 514 Emory River Road, all with direct access to Emory River. (Submitted photo)

 

KINGSTON—The Tennessee Valley Authority has retained J.P. King Auction Company to sell waterfront properties that the public utility bought during the cleanup after the December 2008 ash spill in Kingston.

The properties will be sold at a public auction at 11 a.m. Saturday, July 25, on site rain or shine.

The TVA Board approved the auction company’s proposal to conduct a portfolio auction of 62 properties, up to 19 waterfront properties, four water view homes, and 39 waterfront lots, a press release said. The properties will be sold without reserve at absolute auction, meaning all properties will be sold to the highest bidders, regardless of price, the release said.

Following the 2008 Kingston ash spill, TVA committed to restoring the area to as good as or better than it was before the spill. The first two years of the recovery project required 24/7 operation of heavy equipment on land and in the Emory River. The sounds of the heavy equipment and the lights needed to support night time activities were audible and visible to nearby property owners. Therefore, TVA purchased these properties along Emory River Road, the press release said. [Read more…]

TVA starts public process for future ash storage at Bull Run

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Bull Run Fossil Plant

The Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton is pictured above in an aerial photo from August 2012.

 

The Tennessee Valley Authority is asking for public input on its plans to expand the dry onsite storage of ash and other coal combustion products generated at Bull Run Fossil Plant in Claxton.

TVA is proposing to build a new dry storage area on TVA property next to the plant to provide greater capacity for managing coal combustion products at Bull Run. TVA is seeking public comments on an environmental review of the project.

Bull Run Fossil Plant, which has state-of-the-art air pollution controls, is expected to play a continuing role in TVA’s coal-fired generating fleet, a press release said.

“The Bull Run storage project is consistent with TVA’s commitment to convert all wet coal combustion product storage systems to dry systems,” the release said. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge church goes green

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ORUUC Solar Panels

Rows of solar panels on the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church roof as seen from Oak Ridge Turnpike. (Submitted photo)

 

By Angie Palau

Just in time for Earth Day, Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church is now an active Tennessee Valley Authority Green Power Provider.

The 20-kilowatt installation on the ORUUC sanctuary roof was completed in mid-April by Green Earth Solar, and the solar array has begun to generate clean power for the electrical grid. ORUUC is the first church in Oak Ridge to have solar panels, and indeed is one of the first non-residential buildings in town to have made this investment.

The project was fully funded by private donations from church members and friends and a grant from the ORUUC Endowment Fund. The configuration of the panels allows for expansion of its generating capacity in the future, something that ORUUC anticipates doing. [Read more…]

ORNL scientists generate landmark DOE hydropower report

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2014 Hydropower Market Report Cover

The 2014 Hydropower Market Report provides comprehensive data and trends useful for industry and policymakers. (Submitted by ORNL)

 

For the first time, industry and policymakers have a comprehensive report detailing the U.S. hydropower fleet’s 2,198 plants that provide about 7 percent of the nation’s electricity.

The 98-page report by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers Rocio Uria-Martinez, Patrick O’Connor, and Megan Johnson is a resource that describes key features of the nation’s hydro resources and systematically tracks trends that have influenced the industry in recent years.

“The people who make critical decisions about U.S. hydropower can now turn to one place to find information that has broad implications,” said Uria-Martinez, who noted that the existing fleet has been constructed over the course of an entire century. “Hydropower has a long history but also a promising future as it continues to grow and play a key role in the nation’s power system.”

People who access the report can easily search the database to make highly informed decisions that have a direct impact on the lives of potentially millions of people, Uria-Martinez said. [Read more…]