Oak Ridge Today

Clark Center Park closing due to government shutdown

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Note: this story was last updated at 6:35 p.m.

Clark Center Park in Oak Ridge will close at 10 p.m. today (Wednesday) because of a lapse in federal government funding.

The park is located on the south side of town on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation at 2000 Bull Bluff Road. The park will remain closed until further notice, a DOE statement said.

The partial government shutdown started more than two weeks ago on Oct. 1 after Congress failed to pass a spending bill. Some agencies such as DOE and its contractors continued to operate until there was a lapse in funding and all available money was spent. [Read more…]

EDi buys former IMPACT Services site from CROET

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Impact Services Inc.

State and contractor officials lead tours of the IMPACT Services Inc. site at Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge in June. More than one million pounds of low-level radioactive waste has been shipped from the site.

An environmental services company that helped clean up the former IMPACT Services site at Heritage Center has purchased the seven-acre property from the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee.

The company, Environmental Dimensions Inc., is headquartered in Alburquerque, N.M., but has offices in Oak Ridge.

The cleanup work at the site started in May 2012 after IMPACT Services, which processed low-level radioactive waste, declared bankruptcy. The company had leased the site—which is at the northwest corner of Heritage Center, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge—from CROET.

“We are fortunate to have a partner like EDi who has not only helped us address the environmental liabilities of the property, but that has a vision for its future that will help our community, bring jobs to the area, and further our reindustrialization efforts at East Tennessee Technology Park’s Heritage Center,” said Lawrence Young, CROET president and chief executive officer. [Read more…]

Site Specific Advisory Board elects new officers

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Dave Hemelright

Dave Hemelright

Bruce Hicks

Bruce Hicks

The Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board elected new officers during its September board meeting. The officers will serve in Fiscal Year 2014.

Dave Hemelright, Bruce Hicks, and Lisa Hagy will serve as chair, vice chair, and secretary respectively. The new officers presided over their first meeting Oct. 9 at the U.S. Department of Energy Information Center at 1 Science.gov Way in Oak Ridge.

Hemelright was the vice chair for FY 2013 and had been acting chair since his predecessor, David Martin, completed his term of service in July. He also served on the Finance and Process, Environmental Management, Public Outreach, and Stewardship committees. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge deer hunt canceled due to government shutdown

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has announced that the deer hunt at the Oak Ridge Wildlife Management Area scheduled for Oct. 19-20 was canceled as a result of the federal government shutdown.

Earlier this week, U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Operations began what they call “an orderly shutdown in support of obtaining a safe and secure status.” TWRA said 1,125 hunters had been selected via a lottery system for the hunt. Any fees they paid to participate are non-refundable.

There are two more deer hunts scheduled in November and December, but no decision has been made about them yet. Hunters may contact the Oak Ridge WMA check station on Saturday, Oct. 12, at (865) 576-2380 from 7 a.m. EST until noon. For any additional questions concerning the cancellation, contact the TWRA Region III Office at (931) 484-9571. TWRA will announce how the priority point totals will be handled as soon as a decision has been made.

Federal contractors, agencies consider shutdowns, furloughs as funding dispute drags on

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Joe L. Evins Federal Building

The U.S. Department of Energy will soon start shutting down nonessential operations, resulting in employee and contractor furloughs, unless Congress passes a spending bill. Pictured above is DOE’s Oak Ridge Office at the Joe L. Evins Federal Building.

Furloughs possible at DOE, UCOR, other federal contractors; some SAIC employees on leave

The government shutdown is now in its second week, and the U.S. Department of Energy could start shutting down nonessential operations soon—resulting in employee and contractor furloughs—unless Congress quickly approves a spending bill, officials said Tuesday.

Federal contractors with operations in Oak Ridge are also considering possible shutdowns and furloughs because congressional Democrats and Republicans have failed to reach an agreement on a spending bill to keep the government operating in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1.

In a Tuesday message to employees, UCOR President Leo Sain said the company, the government’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, has not been told to shut down yet. [Read more…]

ORNL prepares for possible temporary shutdown, unpaid furloughs

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory Central Campus

Officials at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, pictured above, are preparing for a possible temporary shutdown and unpaid furloughs in case Congress is unable to pass a federal spending bill. (Courtesy Oak Ridge National Laboratory/U.S. Dept. of Energy)

Oak Ridge National Laboratory has enough funding to continue operating through this month and into November, but officials are preparing for a possible temporary shutdown and unpaid furloughs, Director Thom Mason told employees Monday.

The potential shutdown of ORNL would be triggered by Congress’ failure to pass a spending bill in the fiscal year that began Tuesday, Oct. 1. The federal government has already partially shut down, and the Y-12 National Security Complex started an “orderly shutdown” Monday.

Before the Sept. 30 end of the last fiscal year, the U.S. Department of Energy had told federal employees to continue reporting for work in the new fiscal year unless there is a lapse in appropriations and all available money is spent. And Mason told employees of UT-Battelle, which manages the lab, to report to work starting Oct. 1, even if the government shut down, because ORNL had enough funding to continue operating. [Read more…]

Historical marker unveiled at former Poplar Creek Seminary in Wheat

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Wheat Historical Marker Group Shot

A historical marker honoring the Poplar Creek Seminary was unveiled in the Wheat community in west Oak Ridge on Wednesday. Pictured above from left are Ray Smith, Mick Wiest, Martin McBride, Anne McBride, Bonita Irwin, Bobbie Martin, Billy Stair, and Steve Goodpasture. (Submitted photo)

A historical marker honoring the former Poplar Creek Seminary was unveiled in the Wheat community in west Oak Ridge on Wednesday, a press release said.

The seminary was founded in 1877 and later became the Roane College, and later Wheat High School, and was a center of higher education for area children at the time, the press release said. The school was closed in 1942 when the community became part of the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal project to build the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II.

The marker is from the State of Tennessee. The sign itself was purchased by UT-Battelle, which manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the press release said. [Read more…]

Voce starts today as general manager of Oak Ridge security force

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Michael Voce

Michael Voce

Michael Voce started today as general manager of the National Strategic Protective Services’ protective force contract at U.S. Department of Energy sites in Oak Ridge.

NSPS, a joint venture of Triple Canopy Inc. and Securiguard Inc., announced last month that Voce would start Oct. 1. He replaces general manager Greg McDowell, whose resignation was announced in July.

NSPS is responsible for providing protective force services to the East Tennessee Technology Park, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the Joe L. Evins Federal Building. Voce will be responsible for directing the safe and efficient performance of the protective work force and overseeing all administrative operations, a press release said. [Read more…]

DOE appoints three new advisory board members

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Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board Members

New Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board Members Wanda Smith, Noel Berry, and Mary Hatcher are pictured left to right above. (Submitted photo)

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management recently appointed three new members to its advisory board.

The agency appointed Noel Berry, Mary Hatcher, and Wanda Smith for two-year terms to the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board, or ORSSAB, a federally chartered citizens’ panel that provides independent advice and recommendations about cleanup conducted throughout the Oak Ridge Reservation.

The board’s Deputy Designated Federal Officer Susan Cange introduced the three to the public at ORSSAB’s September meeting. “Thank you for volunteering your time to serve on the board,” she told them. “It is certainly appreciated by DOE and your fellow board members.” [Read more…]

With shutdown looming, DOE expects to keep operating for now

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U.S. Department of Energy Forrestal Building

With a potential government shutdown looming, U.S. Department of Energy employees are expected to continue working unless there is a lapse in appropriations and all available money is spent. Pictured above is DOE’s Forrestal Building in Washington, D.C. (Photo courtesy DOE)

Although a federal government shutdown is looming, the U.S. Department of Energy expects federal employees to continue reporting for work unless there is a lapse in appropriations and all available money is spent.

“Each component of DOE will continue to operate until prior year balances for funding of federal employees is exhausted,” DOE said in a guide posted on its website. “Their operations under those circumstances will be somewhat modified. For example, travel will generally be curtailed. DOE has some limited transfer and reprogramming authority, which may enable DOE to extend the number of days of funding available in some limited cases.”

The guide said operations will stop once prior-year balances have been spent at most DOE facilities. There would be exceptions for functions related to the safety of human life and protection of property. [Read more…]

Guest column: Selling Oak Ridge to the DOE workforce

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Change in DOE Payroll Chart

by David Stanley

Our city urgently needs to market Oak Ridge to the local U.S. Department of Energy workforce. That workforce brings a billion dollar payroll into East Tennessee each year. Unfortunately, the Oak Ridge economy sees very little of this money.

Over the last two decades, the erosion of DOE residency has cost the City of Oak Ridge a great deal of payroll. The problem looks even worse when one considers the concurrent payroll increase of our city’s competition. For example, over those two decades the gap between the annual Oak Ridge and Knox County DOE payrolls grew by $130 million dollars. That’s just the growth in the gap. The total gap in DOE payroll between Oak Ridge and Knox County is now approximately $270 million dollars per year.

No wonder Turkey Creek and so many new housing developments have gone over there. That’s where the DOE payroll went! [Read more…]

ORNL could trim staff by up to 475, but officials hope for fewer cuts

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Oak Ridge National Laboratory Central Campus

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s central campus is pictured above. (Courtesy of Oak Ridge National Laboratory/U.S. Department of Energy)

With the federal budget under pressure, Oak Ridge National Laboratory has permission to reduce its staff by up to 475 employees, but officials hope they don’t have to make that many cuts.

The workforce reduction could come through what is known as a voluntary separation program, or VSP. Those who apply and are accepted would leave the payroll Dec. 31, ORNL Communications Director David Keim said Thursday.

Keim said the lab had to ask the U.S. Department of Energy for permission to make the cuts, and ORNL sought the highest number of possible reductions. [Read more…]