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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:

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

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

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

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

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

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

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

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

Fish caught in Melton Hill Reservoir could break state record

Posted at 1:52 am March 5, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Angler Stephen Paul caught the new pending state record musky on March 2, 2017, from Melton Hill Reservoir in Knox County. The fish weighed 43 pounds, 14 ounces and measured 51 and 3/8 inches in length. (Photo by Dylan Gano)

Angler Stephen Paul caught the new pending state record musky on March 2, 2017, from Melton Hill Reservoir in Knox County. The fish weighed 43 pounds, 14 ounces and measured 51 and 3/8 inches in length. (Photo by Dylan Gano)

  A fish caught in Melton Hill Reservoir on Thursday could break a state record, wildlife officials said. The muskellunge, better known as a musky, was hauled in by angler Stephen Paul in the Knox County portion of Melton Hill Reservoir on Thursday evening, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency said. The giant musky weighed 43 pounds and 14 ounces. It bit Paul’s artificial lure around 6 p.m. Thursday and provided him with the “catch of a lifetime,” the TWRA said. The fish could break a 34-year-old state record. The TWRA said muskellunge are a challenging fish to catch, particularly when they get older and wiser. Paul’s friend Dylan Gano was with him to document the historic catch. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Government, Recreation, Sports, State, Top Stories Tagged With: Bret Carter, Dylan Gano, fish, giant musky, Jim Negus, John Hammonds, Kyle F. Edwards, Melton Hill Reservoir, muskellunge, musky, Norris Reservoir, Paul Shaw, state record, Stephen Paul, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, TWRA

Lionfish invasion, sharks to be featured in ‘Classroom Under the Sea’

Posted at 8:29 am October 23, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Lad Akins Lion Fish

The invasion of the lionfish will be one of the topics covered during the October 23 broadcast of “Classroom Under the Sea.” Lad Akins, director of special projects for the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF), shows a lionfish. (Submitted photo)

 

One of the most destructive forces in the ocean today is a fish. One of the most misunderstood fish in the ocean is known for its destructive force.

The lionfish and the shark will be the topics of the next episode of “Classroom Under the Sea,” an online lecture series hosted by two educators living underwater for 73 days.

The live program start at 1 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, October 23. Viewers can watch at roanestate.edu/classroomunderthesea and on youtube.com/classroomunderthesea.

Biology professor Bruce Cantrell and adjunct professor Jessica Fain from Roane State Community College in East Tennessee are living and working in an underwater habitat—Jules’ Undersea Lodge on Key Largo in the Florida Keys—for 73 days. While in the habitat, Fain and Cantrell are hosting “Classroom Under the Sea,” presented by Roane State and the Marine Resources Development Foundation on Key Largo. [Read more…]

Filed Under: College, Education, Front Page News Tagged With: Bruce Cantrell, Classroom Under the Sea, fish, Florida Keys, Jessica Fain, Jose Castro, Jules' Undersea Lodge, Key Largo, Lad Akins, lecture series, lionfish, Marine Resources Development Foundation, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, ocean, REEF, Reef Environmental Education Foundation, Roane State, Roane State Community College, shark, underwater habitat

‘Diligent’ engineer discovers Y-12 water line break that spilled six million gallons

Posted at 3:26 pm July 17, 2013
By John Huotari 13 Comments

East Fork Poplar Creek

East Fork Poplar Creek starts at a spring at the Y-12 National Security Complex and flows through Oak Ridge. About six million gallons of water spilled into it in early June, killing several thousand small fish, after a 10-inch water line ruptured at Y-12.

The break in a 10-inch water pipe at the Y-12 National Security Complex on a Friday night in June—it spilled about six million gallons of water and killed several thousand small fish—was discovered by a diligent engineer who had returned to the plant to check on an abnormal water tower report, officials said.

The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board reported that the plant contractor’s utilities and environmental compliance organizations both had had indications of an abnormal condition, but B&W Y-12 had not established a procedure to respond to the signals.

“The break was discovered because a diligent system engineer decided to come back in to the site and check on an anomalous report of a low level in a water tower that had cleared as the pumps refilled the tank,” the DNFSB report said. “B&W management is evaluating ways to improve recognition of a problem from the available indications during off hours.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Government, State, Top Stories, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: B&W Y-12, Building 9207, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, DNFSB, East Fork Poplar Creek, fire suppression, fish, potable water line, Potable Water System, PWS, salamanders, water pipe, water tower, Y-12 National Security Complex

Milky white water, half-dozen dead minnows, but no hazardous materials found

Posted at 2:42 pm July 12, 2013
By John Huotari 1 Comment

Hazmat Spill Oak Ridge Civic Center Creek

The Oak Ridge Fire Department responds to a possible hazardous materials spill on Thursday evening at a creek that flows through the Oak Ridge Civic Center. (Photo courtesy ORFD)

The water was milky white and there were a half-dozen dead minnows on Thursday evening, but the Oak Ridge Fire Department was unable to find any hazardous materials in a small creek that flows through Alvin K. Bissell Park in the center of the city.

“We couldn’t detect what it actually was, and we couldn’t find any place that it was introduced into the stream,” ORFD Chief Darryl Kerley said Friday.

Kerley said medium and larger fish in the area were okay and so was a snapping turtle. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: Alvin K. Bissell Park, chemical spill, contaminant, creek, Darryl Kerley, dead fish, discoloration, fish, hazardous materials, HazMat, minnows, Oak Ridge Civic Center, Oak Ridge Fire Department, ORFD, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, Tennessee Department of Water Quality

TVA finishes excavating spilled coal ash at Kingston plant, starts covering disposal area

Posted at 5:05 pm June 29, 2013
By John Huotari 2 Comments

Kingston Fossil Plant Ash Spill Cleanup

Ash that spilled into the brown embayment pictured above has been removed, and workers are placing a black liner over an ash containment cell, pictured at center, preparing to close it late next year. More than 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash spilled in December 2008 when a storage cell used by the Kingston Fossil Plant, back left, failed.

KINGSTON—It was the largest ash spill in U.S. history. A dike failed on a storage cell on a cold December night more than four years ago, and roughly 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash surged out, covering about 300 acres of land and water near the Kingston Fossil Plant.

No one was injured, but 40 homes in the area were affected. The ash filled three embayments north of the coal-fired plant, covered Swan Pond Road, and flowed into the Emory River. Three homes became uninhabitable because of structural damage.

The work to clean up the gray sludge, which had been four to six feet deep, has been under way since the Dec. 22, 2008, spill. On Friday, officials paused to celebrate two milestones in the six-year, $1.2 billion project. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, State, Top Stories Tagged With: arsenic, ash, ash containment, ash disposal, ash spill, Bob Deacy, coal ash, Craig Zeller, dike, dredging, embayment, Emory River, EPA, fish, health, humans, Kathryn Nash, Kingston Fossil Plant, Kingston Recovery Project, liner, public recreation, selenium, storage cell, Superfund, Swan Pond Road, Tennessee Valley Authority, TVA, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, workers

Water line rupture at Y-12 kills small fish, salamanders

Posted at 2:07 pm June 11, 2013
By John Huotari 1 Comment

East Fork Poplar Creek

East Fork Poplar Creek starts at a spring at the Y-12 National Security Complex and flows through Oak Ridge. It has been listed on a state list of impaired waterways due to mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls, among other things.

About six million gallons of chlorinated water spilled into East Fork Poplar Creek from a ruptured drinking water line at the Y-12 National Security Complex, and an estimated 8,500 minnow-sized fish and almost 30 salamanders were killed in the area of the incoming chlorinated water, a media advisory said.

It said the rupture in the potable water line was found Saturday. The numbers of dead fish and salamanders were determined by workers from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Biological Monitoring and Abatement Program. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Top Stories, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: B&W Y-12, Biological Monitoring and Abatement Program, chlorinated water, East Fork Poplar Creek, fish, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL, potable water line, salamanders, water line rupture, 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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