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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

Crews start work for Mercury Treatment Facility at Y-12

Posted at 12:05 pm August 1, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Workers remove asphalt on the east end of the Y-12 National Security Complex, where the Mercury Treatment Facility treatment plant will be built. (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

Work began in June to build the Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The Mercury Treatment Facility will allow the U.S. Department of Energy to clean up and demolish several large Y-12 buildings that used mercury to separate lithium for nuclear weapons during the Cold War in the 1950s and 1960s. The facility is expected to help reduce the amount of mercury in East Fork Poplar Creek, which flows through Oak Ridge.

DOE announced in December that it had awarded a $91 million contract to build the Mercury Treatment Facility. The contract, which could be in place for up to four years, was awarded to APTIM-North Wind Construction JV LLC.

A groundbreaking was held at the site in November 2017, and site preparations were completed by December 2018.

[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: APTIM-North Wind Construction JV LLC, Brian Henry, Cold War, DOE, East Fork Poplar Creek, Headworks Facility, lithium, mercury, Mercury Treatment Facility, nuclear weapons, Office of Environmental Management, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex

(For members) DOE could lease space to store elemental mercury

Posted at 1:52 pm February 11, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Image from “Final Long-Term Management and Storage of Elemental Mercury Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement” published by U.S. Department of Energy in September 2013.

The U.S. Department of Energy is considering whether to lease space to store elemental mercury from sites across the country.

The facility could store about 1,200 metric tons (1,300 tons) of elemental mercury. The waste has been generated at sites in the United States, mostly at gold mining operations, according to the DOE Office of Environmental Management.

The mercury that could be stored at the leased facility is separate from the 1,200 metric tons of mercury stored at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. The Y-12 mercury, about 2.6 million pounds stored in seamless steel flasks, was acquired for lithium-6 isotope separation operations for thermonuclear weapons.

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

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Filed Under: DOE, Front Page News, National Nuclear Security Administration, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Premium Content, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: Ben Williams, Defense National Stockpile Center, DOE, DOE Environmental Management, DOE Environmental Management Consolidated Business Center, elemental mercury, environmental impact statement, Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, lithium-6 isotope separation, mercury, Mercury Export Ban Act, mercury storage and management facility, mercury storage facility, Mercury Treatment Facility, National Nuclear Security Administration, NNSA, NNSA Production Office, nuclear weapons, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, radiologically contaminated mercury, Steven Wyatt, U.S. Department of Energy, Waste Control Specialists, Waste Control Specialists LLC, Y-12 mercury, Y-12 National Security Complex

Crews finish preparing site for Mercury Treatment Facility at Y-12

Posted at 3:29 pm December 12, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Site preparation crews constructed two secant pile retaining walls to retain soils, control water seepage, and provide a deep, secure foundation for the water intake structure at the new Mercury Treatment Facility at Y-12 National Security Complex. (Photo via DOE's EM Update on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018)

Site preparation crews constructed two secant pile retaining walls to retain soils, control water seepage, and provide a deep, secure foundation for the water intake structure at the new Mercury Treatment Facility at Y-12 National Security Complex. (Photo via DOE’s EM Update on Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy announced Tuesday that it has completed the site preparations for the construction of the Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The Mercury Treatment Facility will allow DOE to clean up and demolish several large Y-12 buildings that used mercury to separate lithium for use in nuclear weapons during the Cold War (in the 1950s and 1960s). It’s part of a large-scale cleanup and demolition project at Y-12 and an effort to reduce the amount of mercury in East Fork Poplar Creek, which flows through Oak Ridge.

DOE announced on Tuesday, December 4, that it had awarded a $91 million contract to build the Mercury Treatment Facility at Y-12. The contract, which could be in place for up to four years, was awarded to APTIM-North Wind Construction JV LLC.

DOE said early site preparation activities were started by other contractors in December 2017. A groundbreaking was held at the site in November 2017, and UCOR, DOE’s lead cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, began work at the treatment facility site with a subcontractor after the groundbreaking, the DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management said in a story published Tuesday in an EM Update.

The Mercury Treatment Facility will have two components: a headworks facility and a treatment plant connected by a pipeline. The headworks facility will capture creek flow on the west end of Y-12, store excess stormwater collected during large rainfalls, remove grit, and pump water through the pipeline to the treatment plant on the east side of Y-12. The treated water will then flow into East Fork Poplar Creek. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: APTIM-North Wind Construction JV LLC, DOE, East Fork Poplar Creek, lithium, mercury, Mercury Treatment Facility, nuclear weapons, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Outfall 200, site preparation, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, Y-12 National Security Complex

DOE awards $91 million contract for Mercury Treatment Facility at Y-12

Posted at 8:51 am December 5, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The planned Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy UCOR/U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

The planned Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy UCOR/U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a $91 million contract to build the Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

It’s part of an effort to reduce the amount of mercury in East Fork Poplar Creek and allow the demolition of several large Y-12 buildings where mercury was used to help make nuclear weapons during the Cold War.

The contract, which could be in place for up to four years, was awarded to APTIM-North Wind Construction JV LLC, DOE said Tuesday. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Oak Ridge Reservation, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: Alpha 4, Alpha 5, APTIM-North Wind Construction JV LLC, Beta 4, Cold War, DOE, East Fork Poplar Creek, Jay Mullis, Lamar Alexander, lithium separation, mercury, Mercury Treatment Facility, nuclear weapons, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Outfall 200, U.S. Department of Energy, Upper East Fork Poplar Creek, Y-12 National Security Complex

Thursday night: Krause to discuss ‘Oak Ridge’s mercury saga’

Posted at 7:56 am May 17, 2018
By Carolyn H Krause Leave a Comment

Submitted photo

Submitted photo

 

Carolyn Krause, a newspaper contributor and former editor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, will discuss mercury in Oak Ridge at a meeting tonight (Thursday, May 17).

Krause’s talk is titled “Oak Ridge’s Mercury Saga: A History of Mercury Contamination in Oak Ridge and the Public and Scientific Response.”

The talk is hosted by the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. It is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Midtown Community Center (formerly the Wildcat Den) at 102 Robertsville Road.

“On May 17, 1983, the U.S. Department of Energy announced it had ‘lost’ or could not account for 2.4 million pounds of mercury in the Oak Ridge environment as a result of lithium production for a U.S. thermonuclear weapons program,” a press release said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Front Page News, Nonprofits, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: Carolyn Krause, mercury, mercury contamination, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge’s Mercury Saga, U.S. Department of Energy

Treatment facility will reduce mercury in creek water, allow cleanup work at Y-12

Posted at 1:51 pm November 20, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The new Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex will help reduce the amount of mercury that gets into East Fork Poplar Creek and allow the demolition of four large buildings where mercury was used to help make nuclear weapons during the Cold War, officials said during a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday, Nov. 20, 2017. Part of the back of the Beta 1 building is pictured at back left. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The new Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex will help reduce the amount of mercury that gets into East Fork Poplar Creek and allow the demolition of four large buildings where mercury was used to help make nuclear weapons during the Cold War, officials said during a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday, Nov. 20, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10:45 p.m.

The new Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex will help reduce the amount of mercury that gets into East Fork Poplar Creek and allow the demolition of four large buildings where mercury was used to help make nuclear weapons during the Cold War, officials said Monday.

Mercury contamination is one of the biggest problems remaining from the Cold War, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander said during a groundbreaking ceremony on Monday morning. Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, first announced the new treatment facility at Y-12 more than four years ago.

“In May 2013, I came to Oak Ridge to announce that a new water treatment facility would be built at Y-12 at the head of the East Fork Poplar Creek to prevent mercury that was once used to make nuclear weapons from getting into our waterways,” Alexander said. “That day, I made a personal commitment to address one of the biggest problems we have from the Cold War era—mercury contamination—and help fund a solution. Today, I am proud to see that we are breaking ground on the new water treatment facility.”

Site preparation for the new Mercury Treatment Facility is expected to start this year, with the rest of construction beginning in late 2018. The facility is expected to start operating in late 2022.

The treatment plant will allow workers to demolish four large buildings where mercury, a toxic metal, was once used: Alpha 2, Alpha 4, Alpha 5, and Beta 4. Work on those buildings, mostly on the west side of Y-12, could start by 2024. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, National Nuclear Security Administration, 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, Chuck Fleischmann, Dan Brouillette, East Fork Poplar Creek, GEM Technologies, groundbreaking ceremony, Jay Mullis, Jim Henry, Ken Rueter, Lamar Alexander, Mark Whitney, mercury, mercury contamination, Mercury Treatment Facility, mercury-contaminated buildings, Michael Evans, nuclear weapons, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Outfall 200, Sue Cange, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, URS-CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, West End Mercury Area, Y-12 National Security Complex

Groundbreaking scheduled for Mercury Treatment Facility at Y-12

Posted at 4:38 pm November 13, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The planned Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy UCOR/U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

The planned Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy UCOR/U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

 

A groundbreaking has been scheduled for Monday morning for the Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

Y-12 operations have historically used large amounts of mercury, and many of the buildings, now in varying states of deterioration, have mercury contamination, a media advisory said.

“The treatment facility will lower existing mercury levels from past releases and will serve as a guard against a potential increase in releases as mercury-contaminated buildings are demolished,” the media advisory said.

Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette will attend the groundbreaking, which is at Y-12 and not open to the public. U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander and U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann, both Tennessee Republicans, will also attend the groundbreaking, the media advisory said.

The groundbreaking is being presented by the U.S. Department of Energy and URS|CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, or UCOR, DOE’s cleanup contractor at federal sites in Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, National Nuclear Security Administration, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: Alpha 4, Alpha 5, Beta 4, Chuck Fleischmann, Dan Brouillette, DOE, East Fork Poplar Creek, environmental management, GEM Technologies, groundbreaking, Headworks Facility, Jay Mullis, Lamar Alexander, lithium isotopes, mercury, mercury contamination, mercury remediation, Mercury Treatment Facility, mercury-contaminated buildings, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Oak Ridge Reservation, OREM, Outfall 200, site preparation, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, URS-CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, Y-12 National Security Complex

UCOR awards site prep contract for Mercury Treatment Facility at Y-12

Posted at 1:35 pm September 19, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The planned Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy UCOR/U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

The planned Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy UCOR/U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 2:30 p.m.

UCOR, the federal government’s cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge, has awarded a $1.4 million contract to a Knoxville company for early site preparation activities for the Mercury Treatment Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, and the work could start in November.

GEM Technologies of Knoxville will perform the work for the new Outfall 200 Mercury Treatment Facility at Y-12, UCOR said in a press release Tuesday.

UCOR is also known as URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC.

Under the contract, GEM Technologies will perform limited demolition of existing abandoned utilities and the extension of new utilities—including electrical power, water, sewer, and storm drains—to the treatment facility sites, the press release said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: DOE, DOE Oak Ridge Office, early site preparation, East Fork Poplar Creek, East Tennessee Technology Park, Energy and Water Appropriations, environmental management, GEM Technologies, Headworks Facility, Jay Mullis, lithium isotopes, Mark Whitney, mercury, mercury contamination, mercury remediation, Mercury Treatment Facility, nuclear weapons work, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Outfall 200, Outfall 200 Mercury Treatment Facility, site prep contract, Sue Cange, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, URS-CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, West End Mercury Area, Y-12 National Security Complex

Federal board recommends five cleanup priorities for Oak Ridge Reservation

Posted at 3:26 pm August 29, 2017
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The fiscal year 2017 Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board is pictured above. (Photo by SSAB)

The fiscal year 2017 Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board is pictured above. (Photo by SSAB)

 

A federal board has recommended five cleanup priorities for the Oak Ridge Reservation: offsite groundwater monitoring, future waste disposal capacity, the disposal of excess facilities, mercury in East Fork Poplar Creek, and remaining debris at the East Tennessee Technology Park.

The recommendations were made by the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board. That’s a federally appointed citizens’ panel that provides independent advice and recommendations to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management.

The recommendations are for the fiscal year 2019 environmental management budget, which begins October 1, 2018.

“ORSSAB has identified five priorities for Oak Ridge Reservation cleanup, and recommends that the FY 2019 Oak Ridge EM program budget request reflect adequate funding to keep these projects going,” the board said. “Also, when additional funds from suitable plus-ups and savings become available, it recommends that these funds be targeted for these projects.”

Here is more information from the SSAB recommendation: [Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: community budget workshop, DOE-EM, East Fork Poplar Creek, East Tennessee Technology Park, EM program budget, ETTP, excess facilities, groundwater monitoring, mercury, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Oak Ridge Reservation, Oak Ridge Reservation cleanup, Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board, ORSSAB, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Management, waste disposal, Y-12 National Security Complex

ORNL-led team identifies process that can break down toxic methylmercury

Posted at 1:34 pm July 3, 2017
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

A team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory has identified a novel microbial process that can break down toxic methylmercury in the environment, a discovery that could potentially reduce mercury toxicity levels and support health and risk assessments. Microscopy images by Jeremy Semrau, University of Michigan. (Screenshot from a video by ORNL)

A team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory has identified a novel microbial process that can break down toxic methylmercury in the environment, a discovery that could potentially reduce mercury toxicity levels and support health and risk assessments. Microscopy images by Jeremy Semrau, University of Michigan. (Screenshot from a video by ORNL)

 

Note: This story was originally published by Oak Ridge National Laboratory on May 31.

A team led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has identified a novel microbial process that can break down toxic methylmercury in the environment, a fundamental scientific discovery that could potentially reduce mercury toxicity levels and support health and risk assessments.

Methylmercury is a neurotoxin that forms in nature when mercury interacts with certain microbes living in soil and waterways. It accumulates at varying levels in all fish—particularly large predatory fish such as tuna and swordfish—and, when consumed in large quantities, can potentially cause neurological damage and developmental disorders, especially in children.

A previous ORNL-led study, published in Science in 2013, unlocked the genetic code that led scientists to accurately identify microbes responsible for methylmercury production in the environment. Following this finding, the ORNL team has now discovered which bacteria perform the reverse process, called demethylation. Details are published in Science Advances.

“Much attention has focused on mercury methylation or how methylmercury forms, but few studies to date have examined microbial demethylation, or the breakdown of methylmercury at environmentally relevant conditions,” said Baohua Gu, co-author and a team lead in ORNL’s Mercury Science Focus Area. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Alan DiSpirito, Baohua Gu, demethylation, DOE, Iowa State University, Jeremy Semrau, Linduo Zhao, mercury, Mercury Science Focus Area, methantrophs, Methlyosinus trichosporium OB3b, methylmercury, Methylmercury uptake and degradation by methanotrophs, Methylococcus capsulatus Bath, microbial process, Muhammad Farhan Ul Haque, neurotoxin, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Office of Biological and Environmental Research, Office of Science, ORNL, Science Advances, toxic methylmercury, U.S. Department of Energy, University of Michigan, Wenyu Gu, Xia Lu

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