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Mercury cleanup: COLEX equipment deactivated at Y-12

Posted at 7:54 pm November 8, 2021
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Oak Ridge workers remove mercury and mercury-contaminated solids from process pipes in the column exchange, or COLEX, equipment at the Alpha-4 facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex. (Submitted photo)

Crews are nearly finished deactivating the second of three collections of old, mercury-contaminated equipment around the Alpha-4 facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex at Oak Ridge, a press release said.

The project addresses potential environmental risks and moves the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management a step closer to preparing one of Y-12’s largest high-risk contaminated facilities for demolition, the press release said.

The column exchange, or COLEX, structures are connected to the four-story 500,000-square-foot Alpha-4 building, which was used for uranium separation from 1944 to 1945. Workers finished installing the COLEX equipment in 1955 for lithium separation, a process that required large amounts of mercury. A significant amount of the mercury was lost into the equipment, buildings, and surrounding soils, and its cleanup is one of EM’s top priorities.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: Alpha-4, COLEX, column exchange, Dan Macias, DOE, mercury, mercury cleanup, Mercury Treatment Facility, Office of Environmental Management, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, Y-12 National Security Complex

For members: More than 4,000 fish, crayfish killed by Y-12 chlorinated water, mercury

Posted at 2:35 pm July 6, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Upper East Fork Poplar Creek is pictured above at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge on Friday, May 22, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

More than 4,000 fish and crayfish were killed by chlorinated water and mercury at the Y-12 National Security Complex in two series of incidents in 2018 and 2021.

The rest of this story, which you will read only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.

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Upper East Fork Poplar Creek is pictured above at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge on Friday, May 22, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

More than 4,000 fish and crayfish were killed by chlorinated water and mercury at the Y-12 National Security Complex in two series of incidents in 2018 and 2021.

The rest of this story, which you will read only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.

Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.

Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:

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  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

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  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

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Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support!

Upper East Fork Poplar Creek is pictured above at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge on Friday, May 22, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

More than 4,000 fish and crayfish were killed by chlorinated water and mercury at the Y-12 National Security Complex in two series of incidents in 2018 and 2021.

The rest of this story, which you will read only on Oak Ridge Today, is available if you are a member: a subscriber, advertiser, or contributor to Oak Ridge Today.

Already a member? Great! Thank you! Sign in here.

Not a member? No problem! Subscribe here:

Basic

  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

  • Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

If you prefer to send a check, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

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We also accept donations. You can donate here. A donation of $50 or more will make you eligible for a subscription.

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Filed Under: Federal, Front Page News, Government, National Nuclear Security Administration, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Premium Content, Slider, State, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: Alpha-4, Amy Fitzgerald, Aquatic Ecology Group, chlorinated water, City of Oak Ridge, CNS, COLEX, column exchange, Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, crayfish, Division of Water Resources, DOE, draft permit, East Fork Poplar Creek, EPA, Eugene Sievers, fish, Jennifer Dodd, Kathryn King, Lamar Alexander, Mark Watson, mercury, Mercury Treatment Facility, Michael Atchley, National Nuclear Security Administration, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, NNSA, notice of violation, NPDES, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, OREM, ORNL, Outfall 200, Patrick Berge, public hearing, Susan Morris, TDEC, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, UCOR, violation notice, Warren Gooch, water discharge permit, Y-12 National Security Complex

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

Posted at 5:30 pm March 29, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

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…]

Filed Under: DOE, East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, National Nuclear Security Administration, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: Alpha 4, Barack Obama, Biology Complex, Bob Corker, Building 7500, Chuck Fleischmann, cleanup funding, cleanup program, cleanup work, COLEX, DOE, DOE cleanup, Donald Trump, East Tennessee Technology Park, EM, EMDF, environmental management, Environmental Management Disposal Facility, ETTP, Excess Contaminated Facilities, excess facilities, federal spending bill, Homogenous Reactor Experiment, Jay Mullis, Lamar Alexander, mercury abatement, Mercury Treatment Facility, Mike Koentop, National Nuclear Security Administration, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Oak Ridge Reservation Communities Alliance, OREM, ORNL, risk reduction, spending bill, Trump administration, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, uranium processing facility, uranium-233, Y-12 National Security Complex

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Classifieds

Public Notice: NNSA announces no significant impact of Y-12 Development Organization operations at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

ADFAC seeks contractors for five homes

Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC) is a non-profit community based agency, … [Read More...]

Public notice: Draft environmental assessment for Y-12 Development Organization at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

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