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Environmental advisory board seeks new members

Posted at 8:18 am October 29, 2019
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board members recently toured Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Aquatics Lab, where researchers explained how their sampling and study efforts are helping understand and track biodiversity in the East Fork Poplar Creek. (Photo courtesy SSAB)

Members are being sought for an advisory board that learns about U.S. Department of Energy cleanup projects in Oak Ridge and, when appropriate, provides recommendations.

The citizens advisory board is the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board. It provides recommendations to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM. No technical expertise is required to serve on the board. Terms are for two years, and members may serve up to three terms, for a total of six years on the board.

The board and its Environmental Management and Stewardship Committee meet monthly to hear directly from OREM personnel on cleanup projects and related decisions. Topics include, but are not limited to, the removal of excess facilities, annual budget requests to Congress, groundwater remediation, hazardous waste management, and long-term stewardship.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: cleanup, DOE, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Oak Ridge Reservation, Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board, OREM, ORSSAB, SSAB, U.S. Department of Energy

DOE awards new contract to support environmental cleanup in Oak Ridge

Posted at 12:04 pm May 18, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Five contracts worth up to $24.9 million total have been awarded to small businesses to help support the cleanup of federal sites in Oak Ridge.

The awardees include one company based in Oak Ridge and two based in Knoxville.

The awards were announced last week by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management as part of its Characterization, Deactivation/Demolition, and Remediation Services contract.

The Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM, said it will use the awards to advance cleanup progress across the Oak Ridge Reservation by issuing task orders to conduct characterization, demolish lower hazard buildings, dispose waste, and provide technical support.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, Knoxville, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: Aerostar SES LLC, ARS Aleut Remediation LLC, Ben Williams, cleanup, contract, CTI and Associates Incorporated, demolition, East Tennessee Technology Park, environmental management, GEM Technologies Incorporated, Jay Mullis, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Oak Ridge Reservation, OREM, remediation, TerranearPMC LLC, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex

DOE names deputy cleanup manager in Oak Ridge

Posted at 7:29 pm December 20, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Laura Wilkerson

Laura Wilkerson

 

The U.S. Department of Energy on Wednesday named a deputy cleanup manager in Oak Ridge.

The new deputy manager, Laura Wilkerson, has been selected as the deputy manager of the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM. That’s the program responsible for cleanup projects at federal sites in Oak Ridge, including the East Tennessee Technology Park (the former K-25 site), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Y-12 National Security Complex.

Wilkerson previously served as the director of OREM’s Planning and Execution Division, a press release said. She has more than 25 years of federal service. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: cleanup, deputy cleanup manager, deputy manager, DOE, East Tennessee Technology Park, ETTP, federal sites, Laura Wilkerson, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Oak Ridge Reservation, OREM, ORNL, transuranic waste, U.S. Department of Energy, Uranium-233 Disposition, Waste Management, Y-12 National Security Complex

Site prep could start this year for mercury treatment plant at Y-12

Posted at 10:02 am April 28, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Y-12 Mercury Treatment Facility

The Mercury Treatment Facility that will be at the east end of Y-12 National Security Complex could start operating in 2022. (Image by David Brown/U.S. Department of Energy)

 

Note: This story was updated at 2 p.m.

Site preparation could start later this year for the Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex as the U.S. Department of Energy prepares for demolition and cleanup work at the nuclear weapons plant.

DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM, expects to complete demolition and cleanup work at the East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, in 2020. It will then focus on the large-scale demolition work at Y-12.

Among the Y-12 buildings that could be demolished are Alpha 4, Alpha 5, and Beta 4, all large buildings where mercury, a toxic metal, was once used. The buildings used mercury to separate lithium for nuclear weapons. The lithium separation operations started in 1955 and ended in 1963.

But before that cleanup work can begin, OREM needs the Mercury Treatment Facility. The plant was first announced at a press conference featuring U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, about four years ago, in May 2013.

“This water treatment plant is a major step in addressing one of the biggest problems we have from the Cold War era—mercury once used to make nuclear weapons getting into our waterways,” Alexander said at the time. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge Office, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: Alpha 2, Alpha 4, Alpha 5, Beta 4, cleanup, demolition, DOE, East Fork Poplar Creek, East Tennessee Technology Park, Environmental Management Disposal Facility, Excess Facilities Initiative, Headworks Facility, Jay Mullis, K-25, K-25 site, Lamar Alexander, Mark Whitney, mercury, mercury contamination, Mercury Treatment Facility, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Oak Ridge Reservation, OREM, Outfall 200, Sue Cange, U.S. Department of Energy, water treatment plant, West End Mercury Area, X-10, Y-12, Y-12 National Security Complex

DOE addresses high-risk facilities in Oak Ridge

Posted at 7:02 pm March 20, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Excess facilities at Oak Ridge's Y-12 National Security Complex are marked in red. (Image by DOE)

Excess facilities at Oak Ridge’s Y-12 National Security Complex are marked in red. (Image by DOE)

 

A new initiative by the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management is improving safety and preparing two of the federal sites—Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex—for cleanup and modernization, officials said. The initiative is an excess contaminated facilities initiative.

The congressionally funded cleanup initiative was stimulated by a report to Congress by the Governmental Accountability Office. The report noted that the U.S. Department of Energy designated more than 2,300 of its facilities as “excess,” meaning they’re not operating and no longer serve the department’s missions.

“Many of these facilities pose high risk from contamination and deteriorating structural integrities due to their age and the limited resources to maintain them,” the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management, or EM, said in a story published January 31.

The Office of Environmental Management said more than a quarter of all DOE’s high-risk excess facilities are in Oak Ridge at either ORNL or Y-12. Y-12 has 90 excess facilities to address while ORNL has more than 200, DOE EM reported. [Read more…]

Filed Under: DOE, Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: cleanup, DOE, EM, Governmental Accountability Office, Jay Mullis, modernization, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Office of Environmental Management, OREM, ORNL, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, URS-CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, Y-12 National Security Complex

Local environmental board meets with federal, state agencies to discuss cleanup mission

Posted at 12:45 am September 28, 2016
By Ashley Huff Leave a Comment

annual-meeting-2016-web

The Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board holds its annual planning meeting in August 2016 with U.S. Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation. (Submitted photo)

 

In August, members of a citizen’s advisory board met with representatives of the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation to consider key issues for Oak Ridge Reservation cleanup in fiscal year 2017, which begins in October.

The Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board held its 2016 Annual Planning Meeting in Townsend, Tennessee, on August 6. The Saturday meeting brought together members of the Oak Ridge board, leadership from DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM, and liaisons from federal and state regulatory agencies to review cleanup accomplishments in FY 2016 and discuss priorities for FY 2017.

ORSSAB is a federally chartered citizens’ panel that provides recommendations to OREM on its environmental management activities at DOE sites locally. OREM encourages public participation in federal projects and meets regularly with the Oak Ridge board, as well as with other citizen and stakeholder groups within the community to gather public perspectives regarding a diverse cleanup mission that addresses legacy nuclear waste at sites across the Oak Ridge Reservation through numerous activities, including waste disposition, long-term stewardship, and site restoration. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board, State, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: annual planning meeting, Belinda Price, cleanup, Dave Adler, DOE, DOE Information Center, East Tennessee Technology Park, environmental management, Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, ETTP, Greg Paulus, groundwater strategy, historic preservation, Jeff Crane, Kristof Czartoryski, Oak Ridge cleanup, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Oak Ridge Reservation, Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board, ORNL, ORSSAB, Sue Cange, TDEC, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, transuranic waste, TRU Sludge Processing Facility, TRU waste, U-233, U.S. Department of Energy, Vision 2016, waste disposal, Y-12 National Security Complex

Cleanup at Worthington Cemetery scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 24

Posted at 7:20 pm September 12, 2016
By Sandra Goss Leave a Comment

volunteers-on-new-bird-observation-deck-at-worthington-cemetery2015-1

Prairie Rosinweed at Worthington Cemetery: Clean-up volunteers enjoy the bird deck at Worthington Cemetery in 2015. (Submitted photo)

 

Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning and Tennessee Valley Authority will partner again to clean up in the Worthington Cemetery area, near Elza Gate Park, on Saturday, September 24.

The cleanup is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. September 24 in the Worthington Cemetery area, which is on the Melton Hill Reservoir. It is classified as an ecological study area, or ESA.

This has become an annual National Public Lands Day celebration, with a complimentary noon pizza lunch for volunteers, a press release said. There are new bird boxes and bat boxes, thanks to the Tennessee Valley Authority, the press release said.

Ann Worthington, family historian for the Worthingtons, will talk about the Worthingtons, who lived here and are buried here, along with their slaves, the press release said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Federal, Front Page News, Government, Recreation, Sports Tagged With: Ann Worthington, cleanup, ecological study area, Elza Gate Park, ESA, Melton Hill Reservoir, National Public Lands Day, Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning, Tennessee Valley Authority, Worthington Cemetery

Oak Ridge Cedar Barren Cleanup, Prairie Grass Extravaganza on Saturday, Aug. 20

Posted at 8:57 pm August 10, 2016
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge Cedar Barren

September blooms at Oak Ridge Cedar Barren, courtesy Doug Colclasure. (Submitted photo)

 

There will be a free opportunity to see prairie goldenrod (Solidago ptarmicoides), naked-stem sunflower (Helianthus occidentalis), and Torrey’s mountain mint (Pycnanthemum torrei) at the Oak Ridge Cedar Barren on Saturday, August 20. This will be combined with a workday to remove invasive plants, a press release said.

Located next to Jefferson Middle School in Oak Ridge, this barren is a joint project of the City of Oak Ridge, the State Natural Areas Division, and Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning, or TCWP. The area is one of just a few cedar barrens in East Tennessee, and it is subject to invasion by Chinese lespedeza, Japanese privet, autumn olive, mimosa, Nepal grass, multiflora rose, and woody plants that threaten the system’s prairie grasses. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, State Tagged With: cedar barren, City of Oak Ridge, cleanup, Jefferson Middle School, Oak Ridge Cedar Barren, Prairie Grass Extravaganza, State Natural Areas Division, TCWP, Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning, Tim Bigelow

Budgeting for a clean future in Oak Ridge

Posted at 11:02 am April 7, 2016
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Karen-Thompson-DOE-Cleanup-Budget-Development-March-2016-1

Karen Thompson, OREM’s branch chief for Planning and Baseline Management Branch, spoke to the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board at its March 9, 2016, meeting on developing the FY 2018 budget. (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board)

 

By Ashley Huff

Developing a budget for the massive cleanup efforts undertaken by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM, requires advanced planning and careful prioritization of the program’s near-term and long-term goals. DOE’s vision for a clean future largely depends upon funding designated for the Oak Ridge site by Congress each fiscal year.

Appropriations for Oak Ridge cleanup comprise only a part of the overall budget for DOE’s EM Program, which includes a number of additional sites also dealing with the lingering inheritances of the Manhattan Project. The Oak Ridge site has traditionally fared well both in the president’s request and in the actual appropriations determined by Congress. OREM experienced a $36 million increase in its enacted budget for Fiscal Year 2014, meaning the site received $36 million above what the president even requested for the Oak Ridge cleanup mission. In FY 2015, the site received $46 million above the president’s request. For the current year, OREM welcomed a generous “plus-up” from Congress. Appropriations for FY 2016 were $102 million above President Obama’s request for the program.

“The additional funding of $102 million above the president’s request for FY 2016 has allowed OREM to accelerate progress on spending priorities already well established,” said Karen Thompson, OREM’s branch chief for Planning and Baseline Management Branch, who spoke to the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board at its March 9 meeting on developing the FY 2018 budget. [Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: Alpha 4, appropriations, Ashley Huff, budget, cleanup, Congress, Dave Adler, demolition, East Tennessee Technology Park, K-27, Karen Thompson, Manhattan Project, Oak Ridge cleanup, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board, OREM, ORSSAB, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex

UCOR awards three small business contracts worth close to $1 million

Posted at 11:41 am March 15, 2016
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

UCOR has awarded three contracts worth nearly $1 million to small businesses for services associated with the cleanup of the East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge.

One contract was awarded to ESG Construction LLC of Knoxville, and two were awarded to Construction Technology Specialists Inc., or CTSI, which is based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

ESG was awarded a contract for $450,000 to replace the heat-trace controls at the Liquid and Gaseous Waste Operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. A general and electrical contractor, ESG is an Small Business Administration-certified Historically Underutilized Business, or HUBZone, firm. Work is expected to be completed by the end of the year. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: cleanup, Construction Technology Specialists Inc., CTSI, East Tennessee Technology Park, ESG Construction LLC, ETTP, Freda Hopper, historically underutilized business, HUBZone, Liquid and Gaseous Waste Operations, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Reservation, Small Business Administration, small businesses, UCOR

Demolition could start this year on K-27, last of five gaseous diffusion buildings

Posted at 2:52 pm January 2, 2016
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

K-27-Building-Interior-March-30-2015-2

The interior of the K-27 Building, which once enriched uranium through a process called gaseous diffusion, is pictured above on March 30, 2015. (DOE photo by Lynn Freeny)

 

Information from Oak Ridge Today and the January 2016 issue of “Advocate,” a publication of the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board

Demolition work could start early this year on the K-27 Building, the last of five gaseous diffusion buildings at the former K-25 site, now known as East Tennessee Technology Park or Heritage Center. The giant buildings were once used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants, starting during World War II and continuing through the Cold War.

Deactivation work continues at the K-27 Building, preparing it for demolition. At the beginning of December, deactivation of the building was more than 96 percent complete. Workers continue to remove transite paneling on the building, but that job is 80 percent complete.

Sue Cange, manager of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, has previously said that demolition work could start on the building in early 2016 and be complete by the end of the year.

Demolition work on the former K-31 Building, the fourth of the five buildings to be demolished, was completed in June. [Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, ETTP, Front Page News, Oak Ridge Office, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: atomic bombs, cleanup, Cold War, DOE, East Tennessee Technology Park, ETTP, Heritage Center, K-25, K-25 Building, K-25 site, K-27, K-27 Building, K-29, K-33, Lynn Freeny, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Sue Cange, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, World War II

Record funding in federal budget could help Oak Ridge, senator says

Posted at 1:14 am November 21, 2015
By John Huotari 4 Comments

Lamar-Alexander-Warren-Gooch-Terry-Frank-Nov-20-2015

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, at a brief press conference with Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch, center, and Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank at the Oak Ridge Municipal Building on Friday, Nov. 20, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The federal budget expected to be complete by mid-December should have record funding, and the money could help Oak Ridge in areas ranging from mercury and Cold War cleanup to scientific research and the proposed Uranium Processing Facility, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander said Friday.

The Oak Ridge area now receives about $3 billion per year in federal funding, and the level will be increased although he doesn’t have a number yet, said Alexander, a Tennessee Republican.

Alexander held a brief press conference at the Oak Ridge Municipal Building on Friday.

He said the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, which provided $1.4 billion to Oak Ridge National Laboratory this year, will have a record level of funding. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, East Tennessee Technology Park, Federal, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: cleanup, Energy and Water Appropriations, federal funding, Hanford, House, Lamar Alexander, Los Alamos, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Corridor, Oak Ridge Municipal Building, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Science, ORNL, Scientific Research, Senate Appropriations Committee, Spallation Neutron Source, Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, Summit supercomputer, Terry Frank, U.S. Department of Energy, uranium processing facility, Warren Gooch, Y-12 National Security Complex

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