Crews repair the damage to the Tennessee Valley Authority distribution system after a pickup truck crashed into a steel lattice transmission tower, causing widespread power outages in Oak Ridge and the surrounding area on Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. The work is pictured above on Saturday evening. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Crews were repairing the damage to the Tennessee Valley Authority power distribution system on Saturday after a pickup truck crashed into a large high-voltage steel lattice transmission tower on Friday, knocking it down and causing widespread electrical outages.
All four lanes of South Illinois Avenue (State Route 62) in Oak Ridge remain closed between Lafayette Drive/Scarboro Road and Bethel Valley Road while the repairs are being made. It’s not clear how long the work might take. The road remains closed because of heavy equipment, low hanging lines, and the safety of work crews, the City of Oak Ridge said Saturday.
Power to the University of Tennessee Arboretum remained out Saturday evening, the city said.
The steel lattice tower that was damaged Friday appeared to have been removed by Saturday evening, or it was no longer leaning near the roadway the way it had been Friday.
The crash was reported at Union Valley Road and South Illinois Avenue, near the UT Arboretum, at about 4:15 p.m. Friday. Three people were injured, and charges are pending against the driver.
The Tennessee Valley Authority is building a substation off Old Edgemoor Lane at Haw Ridge Park, near Edgemoor Road in east Oak Ridge. The construction work is pictured above on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Tennessee Valley Authority and its work crews will blast rock in the next several weeks to build an electrical substation in east Oak Ridge. The new substation is being built before the Bull Run Fossil Plant, across the Clinch River in Claxton, closes in 2023.
The blasting was scheduled to start Thursday, January 21, but it was delayed due to weather. When it starts, the blasting work could last three weeks, TVA said in a press release. Controlled, low-charge detonations will be used to blast the rock. Blasting will occur periodically between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., and traffic and pedestrian controls will be in place, TVA said.
The new Anderson County substation site is off Old Edgemoor Road at Haw Ridge Park, near Edgemoor Road.
This is an aerial image of a layout plan for the proposed Oak Ridge Airport at the Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority)
The Oak Ridge City Council will consider accepting grants for the proposed Oak Ridge Airport on Tuesday.
The airport would be built along Highway 58 on the south side of the Heritage Center, the former K-25 site.
Council will meet online to consider accepting the airport grants in a special session at 6 p.m. Tuesday, January 19. You can watch the meeting here.
Oak Ridge officials continue to ask residents to conduct municipal business over the phone and by phone when possible because of COVID-19.
On Wednesday, the City of Oak Ridge released an update about city facilities as the world continues to be affected by the pandemic.
The city said it is supporting the Tennessee Pledge of the state government. You can refer to State of Tennessee websites for updates and advice on precautions to be taken by particular businesses, a press release said.
City facilities will continue to be operated as below as precautions and security matters are considered for the safety of employees, and social distancing for customers, the press release said. Visitors may receive a temperature scan and be asked about their current health, the press release said. You can call the city manager’s office or department offices on the city’s website for more information.
A proposal to temporarily close Anderson County Courthouse offices to the public because of COVID-19 and to have much business conducted remotely was referred to a committee last week.
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A proposal to temporarily close Anderson County Courthouse offices to the public because of COVID-19 and to have much business conducted remotely was referred to a committee last week.
The Anderson County Commission considered the motion on Monday, December 21. The proposal to switch to remote work for courthouse offices was made by Commissioner Theresa Scott and seconded by Commissioner Catherine Denenberg of districts six and seven in Oak Ridge.
A proposal to temporarily close Anderson County Courthouse offices to the public because of COVID-19 and to have much business conducted remotely was referred to a committee last week.
The rest of this story is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.
Construction on a roughly $40 million replacement water plant for the City of Oak Ridge could start in the spring, and the facility could begin operating at the water intake on Melton Hill Lake in about two years.
Construction on a roughly $40 million replacement water plant for the City of Oak Ridge could start in the spring, and the facility could begin operating at the water intake on Melton Hill Lake in about two years.
Oak Ridge Public Works Director Shira McWaters provided an update about the water plant to the City Council during a non-voting work session on Tuesday evening.
Plans could go the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation this week, and then the project could go out to bid, McWaters said.
The Oak Ridge Municipal Building is pictured above on Tuesday evening, May 5, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Oak Ridge Municipal Building remains closed to the public but is moving to a public check-in area where visitors can be escorted to secured areas of the building, City Manager Mark Watson said in an update Tuesday.
Playgrounds and basketball courts remain closed. Disinfection options are being reviewed for limited open times, the update said.
The Oak Ridge Public Library will begin curbside delivery of library materials beginning in mid-May, the update said.
Oak Ridge City Court is working to resume in-person hearings on May 11 with COVID-19 precautions, the update said. COVID-19 is a contagious respiratory illness that can be deadly. It has caused a global pandemic.
The city manager’s update said there is planning for a phased re-opening of the Oak Ridge Senior Center.
Note: This story was last updated at 1:45 p.m. April 14.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Monday said he will extend the state’s “stay at home order” through Thursday, April 30.
The order, issued Thursday, April 2, had been scheduled to expire at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, April 14, but it has been extended for 16 days. The order requires Tennessee residents to stay at home unless they are carrying out essential activities. (You can learn more about essential businesses and services in the image above and on this website page.)
The order was extended to the end of the month in cooperation with guidance from the White House, Lee said during a press conference broadcast online on Monday afternoon. The governor’s updated executive order is available here.
Tennessee has had more than 10 days of single-digit growth, rather than double-digit growth, in the number of COVID-19 cases, Lee said, calling the trend encouraging.
“We’re not out of the woods yet, and it could be some time,” Lee said. “But it is clear that the actions that we take at the state, combined with the local level—most importantly with the determination of our citizens and the bravery of our first responders and our health care workers on the front lines—those efforts have saved countless lives across Tennessee, and for that we are thankful.”
The governor’s new executive order, Executive Order 27, extends temporary social distancing and the stay-at-home provisions of previous executive orders that, among other things:
prohibited social gatherings of 10 or more people;
told restaurants, bars, and similar food and drink establishments to offer take-out or delivery options only;
directed gyms and fitness or exercise centers to temporarily close and suspend in-person services;
restricted visitation in nursing homes, retirement homes, and long-term care or assisted-living facilities; and
applied to close-contact personal services and entertainment and recreational gathering venues.
The “stay at home” order has been in place as Tennessee, like other states and countries around the world, tries to reduce the spread of COVID-19, a contagious respiratory illness that can be deadly.
Part of the site where a test track and research facility or motorsports park could be built on the back side of Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge is pictured above on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Oak Ridge City Council is interested in a proposed test track and research facility or motorsports park at Horizon Center.
The seven City Council members unanimously expressed interest in the proposed project, which could cost more than $50 million and cover more than 300 acres, during a Monday night meeting. The proposal is still in the early conceptual stage, and Council doesn’t have a specific plan to consider or endorse yet.
There are significant questions about the unusual project, which would be in west Oak Ridge, a few miles northeast of the former K-25 site. They include the questions of whether some potential uses such as a hotel would be allowed by the deed restrictions at the site, whether motorsports would be allowed under the industrial zoning, and whether a recreational vehicle park and outdoor music would be appropriate there.
Oak Ridge City Council member Ellen Smith said there are legal constraints on the property. Certain kinds of uses are allowed, and some, such as homes and hotels, are not, Smith said. She said the U.S. Department of Energy was hoping to foster industrial development on the former federal property.
It’s not clear what position DOE might take on the proposed use, and it’s not clear whether the site would be a test track and research facility for non-spectators, a motorsports park for spectators, or a combination of the two.
The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Bull Run Fossil Plant is pictured above in Claxton on Monday, Aug. 27, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Anderson County Commission has scheduled a public hearing to discuss a request from the Tennessee Valley Authority to build a 60-acre landfill on the Bull Run Fossil Plant site in Claxton.
The hearing is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. Tuesday, February 18, in Room 312 of the Anderson County Courthouse at 100 North Main Street in Clinton.
The proposed new landfill is known Site J, and it has been characterized as a three-cell unit capable of holding eight to nine million cubic yards of coal combustion residuals, according to a public hearing notice.
The Clinch River Site in west Oak Ridge is pictured above. The road running from bottom to top on the right (east) side of the Clinch River connects to Bear Creek Road in southwest Oak Ridge. Highway 58 is off to the top left of the photo and the Heritage Center is to the north. (Photo courtesy TVA)
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced Tuesday that it will issue an early site permit to the Tennessee Valley Authority for the Clinch River site in west Oak Ridge, where small modular nuclear reactors could eventually be built.
The early site permit closes several site-related issues, including many related to environmental impacts, for small modular reactors at the site, the NRC said in a press release Tuesday.
The Commission authorized the agency’s Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation to issue the permit following a hearing on August 14. The Commission found the staff’s review of TVA’s application to be adequate to make the necessary regulatory safety and environmental findings, the press release said.
The early site permit, which will be valid for up to 20 years, is expected to be issued in the next few days.
An aerial view of the Oak Ridge Water Treatment Plant on Pine Ridge above the Y-12 National Security Complex. (Photo courtesy Y-12 National Security Complex)
The City of Oak Ridge closed on a $20.7 million federal loan on Thursday for a new water treatment plant in south Oak Ridge.
It’s a Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, or WIFIA, loan. The funds provided by the federal loan program will be used to design and build the new water plant, which will replace an aging facility on Pine Ridge that has served the community since the 1940s.
The total cost for replacement of the water treatment plant is estimated to be $42.2 million, the city said in a press release on Friday. WIFIA will provide about 49 percent of that cost, with the city using the Tennessee State Revolving Fund Loan Program to cover the balance, the press release said.
“After three years of application and planning, the City of Oak Ridge has reached a significant milestone in the funding needed for a new replacement water plant,†Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said in the press release. “WIFIA has helped Oak Ridge with a low-interest federal loan, allowing us to avoid potential failures in a system originally designed for a different Oak Ridge. The financial terms will allow Oak Ridge to afford these much-needed improvements to serve not only our residents, but the national security and U.S. Department of Energy facilities located here.â€
