Oak Ridge Today

David Haskell, author of ‘Songs of Trees,’ to speak at UT Arboretum tonight

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David Haskell

David Haskell

 

Author David Haskell will speak about his new book, “The Songs of Trees: Stories from Nature’s Great Connectors,” in Oak Ridge tonight (Tuesday, April 24).

Haskell, a Pulitzer Prize finalist for an earlier book, will be at the University of Tennessee Arboretum Auditorium from 7-8 p.m. Tuesday. The Arboretum is at 901 South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge.

The event is co-sponsored by Strata-G LLC, the UT Arboretum Society, and Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning, an Oak Ridge-based environmental advocacy organization that offers informative programs and news about environmental issues affecting Tennesseans, a press release said.

Haskell, a British-born American biologist, is an author and professor of biology at Sewanee: The University of the South. Copies of his new book and “The Forest Unseen” will be available for sale at the event from Union Avenue Books, the press release said. He will be signing books purchased at the event before and after his talk. [Read more…]

DOE awards environmental sampling contract for possible new waste disposal site

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The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management has awarded Strata-G LLC a contract to perform environmental sampling as part of an effort to build a new disposal facility on the DOE’s Oak Ridge Reservation. (Photo courtesy DOE's Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management has awarded Strata-G LLC a contract to perform environmental sampling as part of an effort to build a new disposal facility on the DOE’s Oak Ridge Reservation. (Photo courtesy DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management has awarded Strata-G LLC a contract to perform environmental sampling as part of its effort to build a new waste disposal facility on the Oak Ridge Reservation.

Under the contract, valued at about $1 million, the veteran-owned small business is responsible for drilling 16 wells to access groundwater, characterize surface water, and gather soil samples for geotechnical investigations at the Bear Creek Valley site, located on federal land west of the Y-12 National Security Complex, a press release said. That site is known as the Central Bear Creek Valley site.

Information gathered from the environmental sampling activities will be used to determine if the site is suited for future waste disposal operations and to support detailed design for the new disposal facility, known as the Environmental Management Disposal Facility. Fieldwork is scheduled for completion in April, and a final report on the effort will be released later this year, the press release said. [Read more…]

Roane State Internship Fair connects students to valuable opportunities

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Representatives of 15 area employers participated in Roane State Community College’s first Internship Fair, held Sept. 27, 2017, in the Coffey-McNally Building on the Oak Ridge campus. (Photo by Roane State)

Representatives of 15 area employers participated in Roane State Community College’s first Internship Fair, held Sept. 27, 2017, in the Coffey-McNally Building on the Oak Ridge campus. (Photo by Roane State)

 

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

There are numerous job internship opportunities available in the area, Roane State students learned during the college’s first Internship Fair.

Representatives of 15 employers answered students’ questions, took down contact information, and even conducted some interviews during the event, held last month in the atrium of the Coffey-McNally Building on the Oak Ridge campus.

“We want to match students with part-time, skill-building opportunities,” said Kim Harris, Roane State’s workforce training and placement director.

Too many graduates in the college’s non-healthcare fields come out of Roane State with a degree but no job experience, she said. Internships offer employers a chance to “test drive them (potential employees) before you hire them.” [Read more…]

Safety Fest TN opens with Community Safety Forum on Tuesday

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Submitted photo

Submitted photo

 

On September 12, Safety Fest TN will hold a Community Safety Forum, an annual event that officially kicks off Safety Fest TN and its Safety Expo.

Safety Fest TN offers free safety classes to residents and companies September 11-15.

This year’s Community Safety Forum will be held in the Wamp Auditorium at 9 a.m. Tuesday, September 12, at the New Hope Center at Y-12 National Security Complex. More than 900 people have registered for the event.

Headlining the Community Safety Forum are Burns Phillips, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce; Steve Hawkins, administrator of the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration; David Purkey, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security; and Patrick Sheehan, the director of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.

“We wanted to offer our audience a statewide perspective on workplace safety and emergency preparedness, and who best to deliver that message than the commissioners and their administrators?” said Tom Wantland, a Safety Fest TN organizer. [Read more…]

Safety Fest TN in Oak Ridge, Knoxville to feature more than 80 free safety & health classes, sessions, demonstrations

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Safety Fest TNThe Fifth Annual Safety Fest TN is scheduled for September 12-16 in Oak Ridge and Knoxville, and it will feature more than 80 free safety and health classes, sessions, and demonstrations. In addition to the free classes, a Safety Expo and Safety Demonstrations will take place on September 13 and 14, along with the “Secret City” Fire Officer Conference on September 14 and 15, a press release said.

The majority of the classes and sessions will be hosted by Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, at the New Hope Center at 602 Scarboro Road in Oak Ridge and Oak Ridge Associated Universities, or ORAU, at Pollard Technology Conference Center at 210 Badger Avenue in Oak Ridge. But classes are also being offered at seven other area locations including two in Knoxville, the press release said.

“It’s all about safety and health at work, at home and in the community,” said Michelle Keever, the Safety Fest TN class coordinator from URS | CH2M Oak Ridge LLC, or UCOR. “And what a community! In collaboration and with the irreplaceable help of United Steel Workers Local 9-288, we’re thrilled that 20 seniors at Sunbright School will receive OSHA 40-hour HAZWOPER training.” Sunbright is a one-campus pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade school located in rural Morgan County. [Read more…]

GemTech Nuclear Security Solutions receives Y-12, Pantex services contract

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GemTech Nuclear Security Solutions has been awarded the professional and technical services contract with Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, or CNS, at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge and the Pantex Plant in Amarillo, Texas, a press release said.

GemTech Nuclear Security Solutions, or GemTech NSS, is a joint venture formed by four Oak Ridge-based small businesses: GEM Technologies Inc., CS Engineering, Strata-G LLC, and Spectra Tech Inc., and supported by team subcontractors Navarro Research and Engineering, ABS Consulting, Tetra Tech, Enercon, and Paschal Solutions.

“We are thrilled with the announcement,” said Michael Evans, president and chief executive officer of GEM Technologies Inc., managing partner of GemTech NSS. “GEM has been supporting Y-12 for more than 20 years and Pantex for the past two years. We are committed to providing reliable, safe, secure, quality, cost-effective solutions, and we look forward to partnering with CNS for the next five years to support their mission requirements.” [Read more…]

Oak Ridge receives $2.9 million grant from TVA for Energy Makeover

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

The City of Oak Ridge has been selected for a $2.9 million grant from the Tennessee Valley Authority that will “undoubtedly change the lives of people living in legacy Oak Ridge homes by helping them save money on their utility bills,” officials said Friday.

This grant is part of TVA’s Extreme Energy Makeover project and will allow the start of an unprecedented revitalization of the legacy homes in the Oak Ridge community and provide assistance to those that need it the most, a press release said.

“The City of Oak Ridge is honored to be selected for participation and award for use in the Extreme Energy Makeover program, which will be used to encourage use of the legacy housing of the city when it was a ‘Secret City,’” City Manager Mark Watson said. “This investment will demonstrate our housing’s continued value for residents for years to come. As historical housing, our demonstration project has shown that electrical usage can be substantially reduced creating a ‘win-win’ for our residents, TVA, and the Oak Ridge electrical system alike. We look forward to the challenge and partnership with TVA to become a model for the entire TVA service region.” [Read more…]