Oak Ridge Today

Construction on Y-12 mercury treatment plant could start in 2018, cost $146 million

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Y-12 Process Buildings and Mercury Use Area

Note: This story was last updated at 3:30 p.m.

Construction on a mercury treatment plant at the Y-12 National Security Complex could start in 2018 and cost $146 million, a federal official said Wednesday.

The plant would treat mercury contamination that originates in the West End Mercury Area at Y-12, flows through storm drains, and enters Upper East Fork Poplar Creek at a point known as Outfall 200. East Fork Poplar Creek flows through Oak Ridge.

The U.S. Department of Energy has evaluated several alternatives for treating the mercury, including doing nothing. But DOE prefers an option that would treat 3,000 gallons of contaminated water per minute and store two million gallons of stormwater. It could reduce the flow of mercury, a toxic metal, by an estimated 84 percent. [Read more…]

Airport could cost $30-$40 million, construction could start in 2018

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Oak Ridge Airport Property Transfer Session

Oak Ridge resident and pilot Jerry Depew, center, talks to Billy Stair, a consultant for the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority, during an information session on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2015, to discuss a proposed property transfer for a general aviation airport at Heritage Center, the former K-25 site. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 4:36 p.m.

Conditions are subject to change, but current plans call for starting construction on a general aviation airport at Heritage Center, the former K-25 site, in 2018. The current estimate range says the airport could cost between $30 million and $40 million, officials said Wednesday.

Work on an airport master plan is just starting, and it could take 12 months to complete, said Bill Marrison, president of the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority. He said that plan will provide more details on subjects like cost and schedule.

The Oak Ridge airport would the third for the MKAA, which would own the site. The other two are McGhee Tyson in Blount County and Downtown Island in Knoxville.

Marrison said the Oak Ridge airport would be a reliever airport and help relieve congestion at the other two airports. He said McGhee Tyson is at capacity and there is no hangar space available, and Downtown Island has 100 people on its waiting list. [Read more…]

Free community school focuses on waste disposal management

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Natalie Landry

Natalie Landry

Three Community School evening seminars on the topic of waste disposal management will be held at the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church beginning Tuesday, September 15.

The second and third seminars are scheduled for the following Tuesdays, September 22 and September 29. All seminars will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., and free child care will be provided. The church is located at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge and Tennessee Citizens for Wilderness Planning have partnered to offer these seminars, a press release said. The Community School is made possible by a $20,000 Community Involvement Fund grant awarded to the Oak Ridge League by the New Mexico Community Foundation, and funded through the U.S. Department of Energy. A portion of the grant helped to fund an environmental program focusing on children at the ORUUC Rainbow Camp in June. [Read more…]

Synergy Solutions receives $3.7 million contract at DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of EM

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Sue Cange at DOE Oak Ridge Environmental Management

Sue Cange, manager of the DOE Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, is pictured above after a community meeting in May on budget priorities. (DOE photo/Lynn Freeny)

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management recently awarded a $3.7 million contract to Synergy Solutions Inc. for administrative support services.

Synergy Solutions is an 8(a) and small woman-owned business headquartered in Oak Ridge, a press release said.

The contract employs 11 staff members that provide administrative support services to the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. It has a one-year base period with four one-year options.

“We are very pleased to begin our partnership with Synergy Solutions,” said Sue Cange, manager of the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. “Small businesses are an important element that helps us achieve our mission, and we are excited about the capabilities this local business offers our program.”

Tasks performed under the contract include general office administration, technical editing and writing, graphics and design support, and records management.

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K-31 Demolition: 200 acres now available for development at ETTP

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K-31 Demolition

The last section of the K-31 Building at East Tennessee Technology Park was demolished on Friday, June 26. It’s the fourth of five buildings to be demolished where gaseous diffusion was once used to enrich uranium. (Photo by Lynn Freeny/DOE) 

 

Demolition now complete on four of five gaseous diffusion buildings

Demolition of the large K-31 Building in west Oak Ridge means that 200 acres of flat land are now available for industrial development at East Tennessee Technology Park, officials said.

“It’s the largest parcel of land available at ETTP,” said Sue Cange, manager of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management.

Infrastructure is already in place, including water, sewer, roads, and electricity, Cange said. Also, ETTP is close to Interstate 40, a short rail line, and possibly an airport. (There are plans to build an airport at the site, which is also known as Heritage Center.)

K-31 is the fourth of five gaseous diffusion buildings demolished at ETTP. The site, which has also been known as K-25 and Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, was built during the Manhattan Project in World War II as part of a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs. Officials say it helped to win the Cold War, enriching uranium for commercial nuclear power plants and nuclear weapons.

But operations ended in 1985, and the site was permanently shut down in 1987. DOE then began cleanup operations and—with the help of contractors, a nonprofit organization, and others–is converting it into a large private industrial park. [Read more…]

DOE awards contract for sludge buildout project

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Transuranic Waste Processing Center

The Transuranic Waste Processing Center in west Oak Ridge, south of Bethel Valley Road on Highway 95, is pictured above. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy/Oak Ridge Office)

 

Federal officials have taken the first step in treating 2,000 cubic meters of transuranic sludges stored in Melton Valley storage tanks.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management announced it had awarded a contract to CH2M Hill Constructors Inc. for the Sludge Processing Facility Buildouts Project at the Transuranic Waste Processing Center. The center is in west Oak Ridge, south of Bethel Valley Road on Highway 95.

The transuranic waste comes from past operations at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, said Mike Koentop, executive officer of the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, or OREM. The sludge is stored safely and securely now, but there are regulatory milestones to meet, Koentop said. [Read more…]

Cange named cleanup manager at DOE Oak Ridge

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Gov. Bill Haslam Visits ETTP/K-25

During a March 2014 tour, Sue Cange, center, gives Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, right, an update on the then-almost completed demolition of the K-25 Building, which was once used to enrich uranium in west Oak Ridge. (File photo)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy announced Thursday that Sue Cange will serve as the new manager for DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Congressman Chuck Fleischmann said.

“Sue has a strong background in environmental management and has done a great job as acting manager,” said Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican. “I look forward to continuing to work with her on nuclear cleanup in Oak Ridge.”

Fleischmann is chair of the Nuclear Cleanup Caucus, a group of lawmakers who have U.S. Department of Energy cleanup sites in their districts. Fleischmann’s district includes Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Cain named portfolio federal project director for ETTP cleanup

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Wendy Cain

Wendy Cain (Photo courtesy DOE/Lynn Freeny)

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management has named Wendy Cain as its new portfolio federal project director for cleanup of the East Tennessee Technology Park.

As the portfolio federal project director, Cain oversees all the cleanup, demolition, waste disposal, and land transfers at the site. At the forefront, Cain is directing the removal of the K-31 and K-27 buildings, which are the final uranium enrichment facilities at ETTP. In this position, she will oversee the site’s cleanup completion estimated for 2022 and the area’s transfer to private industry.

“Wendy was selected based on her proven track record and experience with some of our largest and most complex cleanup projects,” said Sue Cange, the acting manager of the Oak Ridge Office of EM. “We look forward to continuing our outstanding progress at ETTP through her leadership.” [Read more…]

Whitney, cleanup manager in Oak Ridge, takes new job at DOE

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Mark Whitney

Mark Whitney

Mark Whitney, manager of the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management for the U.S. Department of Energy, has accepted a new job as a principal deputy assistant secretary in Washington, D.C.

The official start date for the new position is May 18. Whitney, who has led cleanup work at the three federal sites in Oak Ridge, will be principal deputy assistant secretary for DOE’s Office of Environmental Management. The change was announced Thursday by Acting Assistant Secretary Dave Huizenga.

Whitney’s appointment as assistant manager for environmental management in Oak Ridge was announced about two years ago. [Read more…]

DOE commits to three-year, $4.5 million groundwater study in Oak Ridge

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Daniel Goode and SSAB Groundwater Strategy Presentation

Daniel J. Goode, a research hydrologist for the U.S. Geological Survey, briefs members of the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board on a new groundwater strategy for the Oak Ridge Reservation.

The U.S. Department of Energy has agreed to spend $4.5 million during the next three years to study groundwater contamination on the Oak Ridge Reservation.

The reservation includes three federal sites—East Tennessee Technology Park, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Y-12 National Security Complex—that have been involved in missions ranging from scientific research to uranium enrichment to nuclear weapons work. That work has sometimes included the use of hazardous substances such as mercury and technetium-99, a slow-decaying radioactive metal.

The $4.5 million in funding will help implement a new groundwater strategy developed by DOE with help from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The strategy, which was presented to the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board in November, will help guide future cleanup decisions, said Sue Cange, deputy manager for environmental management in DOE’s Oak Ridge Office. [Read more…]

Community celebrates K-25 historic preservation agreement

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K-25 Building

The mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building is pictured above. The North Tower, which historic preservationists had lobbied to save for years, is in the center background. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy)

An agreement officially announced Friday morning clears the way for the historic K-25 North Tower to be demolished, calls for a replica equipment building and viewing tower, proposes a history center at a nearby city-owned fire station, and provides a $500,000 grant for the run-down Alexander Inn.

The agreement wraps up a decade of discussion over how to commemorate the historic contributions of K-25, which was built during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, a federal program to make the world’s first atomic bombs.

Historic preservationists lobbied for years to save the North Tower, but concerns over safety, the deteriorated condition of the building, and cost appear to have made that impractical. Much of the rest of the K-25 Building has already been torn down.

Those who signed the agreement include the U.S. Department of Energy, the State Office of Historic Preservation, the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the City of Oak Ridge, and the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance.

[Read more…]