Oak Ridge Today

TVA will blast rock to build substation

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

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.

[Read more…]

NNSA has information session on Y-12, UPF, electrical substation on Wednesday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

H-frame or H tower transmission towers are pictured at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex off Scarboro Road on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

H-frame or H tower transmission towers are pictured at the main entrance to the Y-12 National Security Complex off Scarboro Road on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The National Nuclear Security Administration will have an information session on Wednesday about the Y-12 National Security Complex, the Uranium Processing Facility construction project, and the work to replace the electrical substation at Y-12.

The information session was scheduled after Oak Ridge officials raised concerns in November and December about the power lines proposed on top of Pine Ridge as part of the electrical substation project. Pine Ridge separates Y-12 from the center of the city, and Oak Ridge officials have said they had not received adequate notice of the power line project and didn’t know what other options had been considered. They also expressed concerns about the lack of public input and the visual impact of building power lines and installing transmission towers on top of the ridge. As of December, Oak Ridge City Council members said they hadn’t seen a visual representation of what the power lines could look like. [Read more…]

Council, school board work session has been rescheduled

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The joint work session between the Oak Ridge Board of Education and Oak Ridge City Council that had been scheduled for this evening has been canceled due to snow and winter weather, and it has been rescheduled for Tuesday, January 23.

Among the items to be discussed are the Oak Ridge Preschool project, proposed general aviation airport, and electrical substation project at the Y-12 National Security Complex. [Read more…]

Council, school board to discuss school issues, airport, Y-12 substation

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge City Council and Oak Ridge Board of Education will discuss school issues and receive a briefing and update on the proposed general aviation airport and electrical substation project at the Y-12 National Security Complex during a joint work session on Tuesday, January 16.

The work session will start at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the school library at Robertsville Middle School. Those who attend should use the main front entrance of the building, located at 245 Robertsville Road, to access the library, a press release said.

“A number of school issues will be discussed by City Council and the Board of Education during the work session,” the press release said. “The agenda also includes a briefing on the proposed general aviation airport in Oak Ridge and an update on the Y-12 electrical substation project public meeting. There will be time for an informal neighborhood discussion with City Council members during the meeting as well.” [Read more…]

NNSA grants 45-day discussion for Pine Ridge logging, Y-12 power lines

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Dale Christenson, Uranium Processing Facility federal project director, standing at right, talks to Oak Ridge City Council during a non-voting work session in the Jefferson Middle School Library on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017. In the background are city staff members and members of the public. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Dale Christenson, Uranium Processing Facility federal project director, standing at right, talks to Oak Ridge City Council during a non-voting work session in the Jefferson Middle School Library on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017. In the background are city staff members and members of the public. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The National Nuclear Security Administration has granted a 45-day discussion period for a project to build a new electrical substation at the Y-12 National Security Complex that could include logging work on top of Pine Ridge.

Oak Ridge officials had requested a 30-day delay of the logging work. City officials have raised concerns about that part of the project because they said they didn’t know about it until a week or two before logging operations were scheduled to start, there has been no public input, and cutting down trees and replacing them with transmission towers on top of the ridge would affect the view in that part of the city, including from two residential neighborhoods, Scarboro and Groves Park Commons. Pine Ridge is between Y-12 and the center of the city.

Oak Ridge officials have also said they don’t know what other options were considered, besides installing the high-voltage power lines on top of Pine Ridge.

The 161-kilovolt power lines will provide electricity to a new electrical substation that will service all of Y-12, but it is being built as a subproject of the Uranium Processing Facility. It would be near UPF on the west side of Y-12. UPF is the largest federal construction project in Tennessee since World War II, and it is expected to be completed by 2025 at a cost of no more than $6.5 billion.

Oak Ridge officials have emphasized that they support the project, but they don’t think the city has been treated as an equal partner on the electrical substation and power line portion of the project.

In a press release Tuesday, the City of Oak Ridge said the electrical substation project would involve clear-cutting 2.1 miles of mature trees along the top of Pine Ridge. The NNSA has delayed that project for 45 days, although some logging activity will still occur during that time. [Read more…]

Council to discuss AMSE project, Y-12/UPF power lines on Tuesday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

AMSE Sign

The American Museum of Science and Energy is at 300 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge. (File photo by Sara Wise)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council on Tuesday will discuss the project to move the American Museum of Science and Energy from its current home on South Tulane Avenue to Main Street Oak Ridge.

Oak Ridge Today reported in November that construction documents had been submitted for the new museum at Main Street Oak Ridge, the 58-acre project to redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall. It’s not clear when AMSE might open at its new home at Main Street Oak Ridge, but it will continue to be at its current location, where it’s been since the mid-1970s, past the end of the year.

AMSE is relocating to space that will be renovated in a two-story building that once housed a Sears Roebuck store next to JCPenney at what is now Main Street Oak Ridge. That planned move is part of an agreement that was signed by the city and DOE in December 2016. Under that agreement, the 17-acre AMSE site was to be transferred from the U.S. Department of Energy to the City of Oak Ridge.

The city is, in turn, transferring the AMSE property in two phases to TN Oak Ridge Illinois LLC. That company was set up by RealtyLink, the developer of Main Street Oak Ridge.

The southernmost 7.44 acres of the AMSE site have already been transferred to TN Oak Ridge Illinois LLC. In November, the Oak Ridge City Council unanimously approved a rezoning for that property, which could be developed with a grocery store, retail shops, and restaurants.

[Read more…]

Council to discuss Y-12, UPF power lines on Pine Ridge today

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

A letter unanimously approved by Oak Ridge City Council on Monday, Nov. 13, 2017, asks federal officials to postpone a project to remove trees and other vegetation from the top of Pine Ridge, pictured above from South Illinois Avenue in south Oak Ridge, for 161-kilovolt power lines that will provide electricity to a new substation at the Y-12 National Security Complex. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A letter unanimously approved by Oak Ridge City Council on Monday, Nov. 13, 2017, asks federal officials to postpone a project to remove trees and other vegetation from the top of Pine Ridge, pictured above from South Illinois Avenue in south Oak Ridge, for 161-kilovolt power lines that will provide electricity to a new substation at the Y-12 National Security Complex. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council will discuss the power lines planned on top of Pine Ridge for a new electrical substation at the Y-12 National Security Complex during a special meeting today (Friday, December 8).

Specifically, City Council will review the federal response to a city letter about the planned high-voltage power lines.

The special meeting will start at 1:30 p.m. Friday, December 8, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom at 200 South Tulane Avenue. [Read more…]

City wants to minimize impact of new power lines for Y-12, UPF

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Pine Ridge, which separates the Scarboro neighborhood from the Y-12 National Security Complex, is pictured above from the Scarboro Community Center playground. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

Pine Ridge, which separates the Scarboro neighborhood from the Y-12 National Security Complex, is pictured above from the Scarboro Community Center playground. (Photo by City of Oak Ridge)

 

The City of Oak Ridge has asked federal officials to consider an option that minimizes the impact of new high-voltage power lines planned on top of Pine Ridge, which is between the center of the city and the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The 161-kilovolt power lines will provide electricity to a new substation at the Y-12 National Security Complex. The new substation will service all of Y-12, but it is being built as a subproject of the Uranium Processing Facility. It would be near UPF on the west side of Y-12.

Dale Christenson, federal project director for the UPF, presented the project to Oak Ridge City Council during a November 7 work session. Less than a week later, at its November 13 meeting, City Council unanimously approved a letter that requested a postponement of tree-clearing work that is part of the project in order to discuss alternatives. The National Nuclear Security Administration agreed to a two-week delay, the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release Monday. Y-12 is an NNSA site.

In order to install the power lines, federal officials plan to remove trees and other vegetation from the top of Pine Ridge. The ridge is between Y-12 and two Oak Ridge neighborhoods: Scarboro and Groves Park Commons.

“Several weeks ago, the NNSA advised of proceeding with plans to clear cut 2.1 miles of mature trees and vegetation along the crest of Pine Ridge,” the city’s press release said. “More than 30 79-foot Tennessee Valley Authority transmission towers will be erected along the top of the ridge after clear cutting occurs. Although DOE has been planning this initiative for at least two years, the city has not been engaged in the process or studying electrical options for serving the new Uranium Processing Facility.” [Read more…]