Oak Ridge Today

DOE Oak Ridge Office awards $14 million contract for roads, grounds, maintenance

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Larry Kelly

Larry Kelly

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office recently awarded a $14 million contract to Knoxville-based small business Environment, Safety, and Health Inc. for roads, grounds, and maintenance services on the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation.

“The Oak Ridge Reservation includes 105 miles of roads and thousands of acres of land that require upkeep, and maintaining their functionality is vitally important to our operations,” said DOE-ORO Manager Larry Kelly. “We require a responsive and professional organization to carry out this mission, and we have that with ES&H.”

ES&H Inc., the incumbent contractor since 2008, will continue to provide services in support of roads, grounds, and maintenance on the 33,500-acre Oak Ridge Reservation and will employ 18 people in support of the contract. [Read more…]

NSPS now provides security services at DOE sites in Oak Ridge

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

National Strategic Protective Services LLC announced Monday morning that it now provides guard services at U.S. Department of Energy sites in Oak Ridge.

NSPS won the protective force services work under a five-year, $182 million contract announced in January. The company will guard the East Tennessee Technology Park, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Joe L. Evins Federal Building, and part of the Oak Ridge Reservation. [Read more…]

Guest column: Questions remain on Oak Ridge cleanup funding

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

David Martin

David Martin

By David Martin, Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board chair

There is great uncertainty on what the looming federal budget cuts will be and what effect they will have on funding for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Environmental Management, or EM, program at the Oak Ridge Reservation. We can be confident that budget cuts are coming. It is going to take a coordinated effort on the part of the DOE-Oak Ridge EM, regulators, and stakeholders to minimize the impact on current and future remediation projects, and on the men and women who carry out this work.

Right now DOE-EM is operating on a temporary six-month budget. This budget covers just the first half of Fiscal Year 2013 and is based on half of the FY 2012 budget. We should know soon how changes in the federal budget affect Oak Ridge EM for the second half of 2013. This still leaves the 2014 budget in question. [Read more…]

DOE appoints two new members to advisory board

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Robert Craig

Robert Craig

Belinda Price

Belinda Price

The U.S. Department of Energy appointed two new members to its Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board.

Susan Cange, deputy manager for DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, introduced Robert Craig and Belinda Price as the latest appointees at the board’s meeting on March 13. [Read more…]

Controlled burns on Oak Ridge Reservation start Friday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office is initiating a series of controlled burns of grassland areas on the Oak Ridge Reservation for prescribed burning at the East Tennessee Technology Park and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory during March and April.

On March 15, weather permitting, controlled burns are taking place:

[Read more…]

DOE manager discusses Oak Ridge Reservation at Jan. 10 meeting

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Larry Kelly

Larry Kelly

Larry Kelly, manager of the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office, will be the featured speaker on Thursday, Jan. 10, at a joint meeting of two local nonprofit organizations. His speech is titled “Managing resources on the Oak Ridge Reservation in a changing environment.”

The talk is sponsored by Advocates for the Oak Ridge Reservation and the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association. It starts at 7 p.m. Jan. 10 at the Midtown Community Center Wildcat Den, and it is open to the public.

[Read more…]

One-of-a-kind waste incinerator in ‘safe shutdown’ at ETTP

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Filling the Toxic Substances Control Act Incinerator

Workers fill the sumps at the Toxic Substances Control Act Incinerator with grout, as part of the work to close it. (Submitted photo)

A one-of-a-kind waste incinerator, which began operations at the East Tennessee Technology Park more than 20 years ago, has been safely shut down.

When the Toxic Substances Control Act Incinerator, or TSCAI, began operations in 1990, the intent was to run it for five years to prove the technology worked. It was the only incinerator in the nation permitted to burn certain hazardous and radioactive wastes.

Operations ceased in December 2009, after a safe and successful run that saw the facility burn 35 million pounds of liquids and solids from DOE sites across the United States—even some from Hawaii.

[Read more…]

Oak Ridge deer hunt canceled

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

A deer hunt in Oak Ridge has been canceled as a result of the fallout from the July 28 security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex, according to WYSH Radio in Clinton.

On Thursday, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency said it was informed by the U.S. Department of Energy that the hunt scheduled for Oct. 20 and 21 on the Oak Ridge Wildlife Management Area was canceled while security on the Oak Ridge Reservation is reviewed, WYSH said.

TWRA said it will notify the affected hunters by mail and that it will refund any fees that have already been paid for the hunt. Similar Oak Ridge hunts set for November and December remain scheduled, WYSH said.

[Read more…]

DOE public bus tour has 1,600 visitors this summer

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

About 1,600 people toured the Oak Ridge Reservation during this summer’s public bus tour, the U.S. Department of Energy announced.

The annual tour of Oak Ridge facilities ended Aug. 31, and it attracted visitors from 40 states, a press release said.

[Read more…]

Insect that kills ash trees found in Oak Ridge

Posted at
By 4 Comments

Emerald Ash Borer Trap Inspection

Oak Ridge National Laboratory intern Jordan Chaney inspects an emerald ash borer trap near Bethel Valley Road. (Photo courtesy of ORNL)

The emerald ash borer, a destructive insect that attacks ash trees and can kill them, has been found on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation, according to an article posted on ORNL Today.

The non-native insect was first trapped in Roane and Anderson counties in May, the article said. One trap was on Highway 95 at the Highway 58 interchange, and the other was on Bethel Valley Road near the East Portal.

“Unfortunately, these finds signal the beginning of a decline of ash species throughout the reservation,” said Greg Byrd, forester with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Natural Resources Program.

[Read more…]