Oak Ridge Today

Spending bill has $639 million for DOE cleanup in Oak Ridge

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Y-12 Biology Complex aerial

An aerial view of the Biology Complex at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Plans call for eventually demolishing the complex. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy)

 

The federal spending bill approved last week includes $639 million for the federal government’s cleanup program in Oak Ridge, including what could be full funding for a top priority deactivation and demolition project at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The $639 million for the current fiscal year is an increase of $141 million or more, compared to recent fiscal years, and it’s the most money appropriated in a while.

Besides Y-12, the fiscal year 2018 funding will be used for U.S. Department of Energy cleanup projects at East Tennessee Technology Park (the former K-25 site) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

“It’s very positive for us,” said Jay Mullis, manager of the DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM. Mullis gave a brief update at a meeting of the Oak Ridge Reservation Communities Alliance on Monday.

In addition to $125 million to deactivate and demolish the Biology Complex at Y-12, the fiscal year 2018 spending bill includes $17.1 million in funding for the planned Mercury Treatment Facility at Y-12, about $200 million for continued cleanup work at ETTP, and a total of roughly $12 million for the Environmental Management Disposal Facility, or EMDF. That’s a proposed landfill that could be west of Y-12 and accept waste from future cleanup work at Y-12 and ORNL, possibly early in the 2020s. The project plan for EMDF is expected to be open to public comment later this summer. [Read more…]

Alexander: Senate confirms Smith of ORNL, three others to TVA Board

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Jeff Smith

Jeff Smith

 

Note: This story was updated at 5:40 p.m.

Jeff Smith, deputy lab director for operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been confirmed to the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors.

The confirmations—there were a total of four to the TVA Board, including Smith—were announced by U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander in a press release Friday.

Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, has said that Smith is an “outstanding choice” to serve on the board of the nation’s largest public utility.

Alexander introduced Smith at his confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in November, the press release said. Alexander said that Smith will make an excellent TVA board member because of his “expertise in nuclear energy, his background in management of a large facility, and his understanding of large construction projects.” [Read more…]

U.S. Senate candidate Mackler will be in Oak Ridge on Thursday

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James Mackler

James Mackler

 

James Mackler, the first Tennessee Democrat to launch a 2018 U.S. Senate campaign, will be in Oak Ridge on Thursday.

Mackler, a Nashville attorney and Iraq War veteran, will be the keynote speaker at the Anderson County Democratic Party general meeting at 6 p.m. on Thursday, October 19, in the Social Hall of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, a press release said.

U.S. Senator Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican, is not seeking re-election in 2018. U.S. Representative Marsha Blackburn, also a Tennessee Republican, has announced she will run for Corker’s seat.

A press release said Mackler left his job six months ago as a prosecutor and defense attorney to run for Corker’s seat. [Read more…]

Jeff Smith of ORNL nominated to serve on TVA Board

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Jeff Smith

Jeff Smith

 

Note: This story was updated at 1:30 p.m.

Jeff Smith, deputy director for operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been nominated to serve on the Tennessee Valley Authority Board of Directors, officials said Thursday.

The nomination by President Donald Trump was announced by the White House.

U.S. senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, both Tennessee Republicans, supported Smith’s nomination in statements on Thursday. [Read more…]

Some concern in Oak Ridge as Congress considers repealing Affordable Care Act

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Protesters express their opposition to the health care vote in May by U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Rocky Top post office on May 9, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Protesters express their opposition to the health care vote in May by U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Rocky Top post office on May 9, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The U.S. Senate continued to debate a potential repeal of at least part of the Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare,” on Thursday night. It’s not clear what the Senate will eventually approve.

It’s also not clear what type of agreement the Senate can reach with the U.S. House of Representatives, if the Senate passes a bill. The House has already passed its own bill, the American Health Care Act.

On Thursday night, the Senate debate was focused on a so-called “skinny repeal,” which would roll back parts of the Affordable Care Act, or ACA. It would repeal the mandates that most people have health insurance and that large employers cover their employees, but it would leave most of the health law in place, The New York Times reported.

It wasn’t clear if the Republican-controlled Senate had the votes to advance the legislation.

The vote on “skinny repeal” expected tonight comes after Senate Republicans were unable to reach consensus on broader legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act and after an earlier repeal bill failed on Wednesday.

The health care debate in the Senate started with a 51-50 vote on Tuesday.

As the health care debate has played out in Congress this year, there has been some concern in Oak Ridge and Anderson County over the potential repeal of the Affordable Care Act, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama in March 2010. It’s considered his signature domestic legislative achievement.

There has also been some concern here over possible Medicaid cuts. [Read more…]

After acquiring more land, Protomet evaluating Oak Ridge for $30 million expansion

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protomet-nov-22-2016-web

Protomet Corporation is pictured above in the Bethel Valley Industrial Park in south Oak Ridge on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Jeff-Bohanan-Feb-2-2016

Jeff Bohanan

Protomet Corporation has purchased about 20 acres of former federal land on Bethel Valley Road in south Oak Ridge, and the company is evaluating that property as one option as it plans for a $30 million expansion that could add 200 jobs over a five-year period.

On Tuesday, Protomet founder and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bohanan said the company prefers to stay in Oak Ridge, but there is no guarantee. The 19.47-acre parcel on Bethel Valley Road will have to be cut and filled, and drainage will have to be redirected, Bohanan said. It’s not clear yet how much that work might cost.

Protomet needs about 100,000 square feet for its expansion, which was announced in February. Protomet now has 70 workers in a 40,000-square-foot building on eight acres, so the company could more than triple in size.

“The new facility will dramatically increase Protomet’s capacity and capabilities for the customers it serves,” Bohanan said. “We have already started purchasing equipment for the new facility, and some of it is already in use at our current facility.”

Protomet bought the Bethel Valley Road land from the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board for $103,000 on October 20. The property, which was previously owned by the U.S. Department of Energy, is west of Protomet and east of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

“This is a big step in our ability to evaluate this site as an option,” Bohanan said. [Read more…]

U.S. Attorney Killian resigning from ET post to join national law firm

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Bill Killian

William C. “Bill” Killian

Note: This story was updated at 10:47 a.m. Nov. 20.

KNOXVILLE—William C. Killian, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, has submitted his resignation to President Barack Obama effective December 5. He is joining a national law firm.

Killian was sworn into office October 4, 2010, after he was nominated by Obama and unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate. He served on the following subcommittees of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee: Terrorism and National Security, Civil Rights, and Healthcare Fraud Working Group, a press release said.

Federal cases that originate in Oak Ridge are heard in the Eastern District of Tennessee, which has offices in Knoxville and uses courtrooms there. Among the cases heard there in the past few years, for example, are the case of three anti-nuclear weapons activities who broke into the Y-12 National Security Complex in 2012, the trademark lawsuit against Lake City when it changed its name to Rocky Top, and a methamphetamine manufacturing conspiracy in Anderson County. [Read more…]

Corker column: Americans deserve to know where elected leaders stand on Iran deal

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U.S. Senator Bob Corker

Bob Corker

By Bob Corker

As I traveled across the Volunteer State during August, I spoke with many Tennesseans about the nuclear agreement between Iran, the United States, and other world powers. While opinions of the agreement vary, there is perhaps no greater geopolitical issue facing the world today than preventing a nuclear-armed Iran.

A strong agreement that would stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and stand the test of time was always the goal of these negotiations. That’s why when President Obama declared in 2012 that he would only accept a deal requiring Iran to “end their nuclear program,” there was hope that an agreement could win bipartisan support.

Since the administration reached an agreement in July, Congress has scrutinized it thoroughly to determine whether or not it achieves that goal.

In the coming days, the House of Representatives and Senate will debate and consider a resolution to disapprove of the administration’s Iran deal. And while we have known from the beginning that stopping a potential bad deal with Iran would be a heavy lift, many felt it was important for members of Congress—on behalf of those they represent—to carefully review and vote on any final agreement. [Read more…]

Corker: Bipartisan concern on Iran deal, no comment on Trump

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Bob Corker Regional Business Luncheon

U.S. Senator Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican, talks about Iran and fiscal issues before fielding questions during a lunchtime speech in Clinton on Tuesday. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

CLINTON—He ruled out running for president himself but declined to comment on Donald Trump, the Republican front-runner, and U.S. Senator Bob Corker on Tuesday said there is bipartisan concern over the Iran nuclear deal.

Corker, a Tennessee Republican, has been asked in the past whether he might run for president. He was asked again during a lunchtime speech in Clinton on Tuesday, this time by Clinton businessman Joe Hollingsworth.

“That ship has sailed,” said Corker, chair of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee.

He said the campaign for the November 2016 election, which features an unusually large field of 17 Republican candidates, is the most entertaining contest he’s seen in a while.

Four of the candidates are senators, and two are on the Foreign Relations Committee, said Corker, who’s not endorsing anyone. [Read more…]

Corker visiting six Tenn. counties, with stop in Clinton

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U.S. Senator Bob Corker

Bob Corker

U.S. Senator Bob Corker is visiting six Tennessee counties, and the trip includes stops in Clinton, Knoxville, and Kingston on Tuesday.

The statewide travel started in Chattanooga on Saturday at the Department of Navy Memorial Service to honor the service members tragically killed in the July attack.

During Tuesday’s stops, Corker, a Tennessee Republican, will visit with business and community leaders.

On Wednesday, Corker will be back in Hamilton County, where he will attend the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce annual meeting. [Read more…]

Sen. Corker named to TIME’s list of 100 most influential people in world

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U.S. Senator Bob Corker

Bob Corker

TIME Magazine announced Thursday that it has named U.S. Senator Bob Corker to the 2015 TIME 100, its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Corker is a Tennessee Republican and chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“I am grateful that Tennesseans have given me the tremendous privilege of serving them in the United States Senate, and I am deeply humbled by this honor,” Corker said. “I wake up every day trying to find ways to move our country ahead, and for as long as Tennesseans afford me this opportunity, I will remain focused on solving the big domestic and foreign policy issues facing our nation.”

The tribute to Corker was written by Senator Lamar Alexander. Alexander is also a Tennessee Republican,  the state’s senior senator, and a former governor and former secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. [Read more…]

U.S., Tennessee, community college officials react to president’s education proposal

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Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, U.S. senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, and U.S. representatives Chuck Fleischmann and John J. Duncan Jr., all Republicans, released statements or commented on the East Tennessee visit by President Barack Obama, a Democrat, on Friday and his proposal to make the first two years of community college free to responsible students. Pellissippi State Community College President Anthony Wise and Roane State Community College President Chris Whaley also released statements or commented on the visit and education proposal.

The president’s proposal, America’s College Promise, will be proposed in his State of the Union on January 20, and it is modeled after the Tennessee Promise.

Here’s what the officials from Tennessee said:

Bill Haslam during Presidential Visit at Pellissippi State

Governor Bill Haslam was among the Tennessee leaders who received praise from the president during Obama’s 5.5-hour visit to East Tennessee on Friday. (Photo by Rob Welton)

Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam

The president recognizes that good things are happening in Tennessee. We are proud of the Tennessee Promise. It is changing the culture of expectations in Tennessee by encouraging more students to pursue a certificate or degree beyond high school. The Tennessee Promise is focused not just on access but success in terms of making certain that students actually attain their degree. We think having a mentor available for the students is an important part of achieving that success.

Regarding the specifics of the president’s plan, we look forward to seeing more details in the coming days about the cost of the program and how it will be covered. [Read more…]