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.
Young said the reindustrialization efforts at ETTP have created more than 300 jobs and brought in more than $100,000 in tax revenues per year from roughly 95 acres at the former K-25 site that has been sold or leased through the reindustrialization program. Young “looks forward to seeing the site continue to develop as EDi moves forward with its plans,” a press release said.
EDi operated under a program funded by the state of Tennessee when it helped clean up the site. Operating under its radioactive materials license, approximately 1.6 million pounds of waste and equipment shipped in 1,200 containers and transported by 220 trucks have been removed from the site, the press release said. EDi’s initial plan for the property is to address the remaining contaminants left behind by the previous tenants.
“The facility has isolated radioactive residues as a result of nuclear waste processing,” said Mike Bradshaw, EDi vice president. “Our initial objective for the site will be to decontaminate the facility so we can have a fresh start.”
In the press release, Bradshaw said EDi envisions a new focus for the site and understands that the community needs opportunities to provide sustainable skilled jobs outside of the support of the current U.S. Department of Energy mission.
“True reindustrialization of the area will rely on innovative approaches like this if our community is to thrive beyond the ever-shrinking DOE footprint,” Bradshaw said.
As part of its long term strategy, EDi has partnered with a renewable energy and sustainability developer, GAET LLC, which will be instrumental in supporting EDi with its plans to expand the additional uses of the site. The partnership will allow EDi to introduce a broader technical focus, including manufacturing, education, and training opportunities in green technologies within the Oak Ridge community.
EDi is a SBA certified woman-owned small business entity with a strong reputation for providing quality technical environmental services for government and private-sector clients alike, with DOE as one of its main focuses for more than 23 years as a contractor.
For more information about EDi, visit www.EDi-NM.com.
For more information on CROET, visit www.CROET.com.
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