Oak Ridge Today

TVA, EPA update Roane County on ash cleanup efforts

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Information from WYSH Radio

On Thursday, officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Tennessee Valley Authority updated Roane County residents on the ongoing cleanup efforts from the 2008 coal ash spill at the Kingston Fossil Plant.

The December 2008 spill dumped more than a billion gallons of coal ash sludge into the Clinch and Emory Rivers and into the surrounding community. What had been 5.4 million cubic yards of sludge is now down to about 70,000 cubic yards—or 14 million gallons—and officials expect to have the rest cleared by the end of June. [Read more…]

TVA, government agencies to give recovery update on Kingston ash spill

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The Tennessee Valley Authority, along with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, will hold a public meeting on progress of the Kingston Ash Recovery Project and long-term monitoring plans.

The meeting will be held Thursday, May 30, from 5:30-7 p.m. in the auditorium of Roane County High School in Kingston. The auditorium is in Building B on the Spring Street side of the high school. [Read more…]

Y-12 recognized as a ‘best workplace for commuters’

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Y-12 Best Work Place for Commuters Award

Durand Carmany talks about how the 4/10 work schedule and on-site taxi service help make the Y‑12 National Security Complex one of the best workplaces for commuters as Sara Martin of Smart Trips looks on. (Photo by Scott Fraker/Y-12)

The Y-12 National Security Complex was one of several East Tennessee businesses recently recognized for meeting the National Standard of Excellence awarded by Best Workplaces for Commuters, or BWC.

Other businesses included Green Mountain Coffee, Home Federal Bank, Tomato Head, and Knoxville Utilities Board. They were recently recognized by Smart Trips, Knox County Mayor Tim Burchett, and City of Knoxville Deputy Mayor Eddie Mannis. [Read more…]

Letter: Urged Council to defer debt increase for sewer system

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Note: This is a copy of a letter that Oak Ridge resident Martin McBride wrote to City Council prior to a Monday night meeting. During that meeting, Council approved the borrowing of $18 million in low-interest state loans to pay for sewer system work meant to comply with a federal order.

Dear City Council Members,

A sizable increase in the Oak Ridge city debt will be placed before the Council at a special meeting this coming Monday.

Passing this debt so hurriedly:

[Read more…]

Council approves $18 million in borrowing for sewer system repairs

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Trina Baughn

Trina Baughn

After more than an hour of discussion, the Oak Ridge City Council on Monday approved the borrowing of $18 million in low-interest state loans to help pay for a $23 million project to fix the municipal sewer system.

Council voted 6-1 to borrow the money at a 1.23 percent interest rate through the State Revolving Fund program, which is administered by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.

The work is being done to comply with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency order that requires Oak Ridge to repair all sewer system overflows by Sept. 28, 2015.

[Read more…]

Guest column: Researches EPA sewer order, says more work needed

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Last month, Oak Ridgers were hit with a water/sewer rate increase for the second time in nine months to pay for $15 million worth of debt that you were told (incorrectly) was issued to cover a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandate. On Monday night, City Council is preparing to approve another $18 million in debt for the same cause, which will result in subsequent rate increases.

A statement I received this weekend from one resident sums up the frustrations that so many of you have been sharing with me: “Utility rates (water, sewer, electrical, trash pickup, etc.) keep going up; the city and county property ‘double’ taxation is simply too much. It so happens that our group of friends and us discuss the idea of moving to other less costly vicinities nearby more often than before. We would strongly suggest that our city government start budgeting our expenditures with the money we have.”

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Report: Oak Ridge officials discuss wastewater issues with EPA in Atlanta

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Editor’s note: The Oak Ridge City Council recently established an ad hoc subcommittee to focus on issues related to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrative order on inflow and infiltration of the city’s wastewater system. Councilman Chuck Hope, who is chairman of the subcommittee, provided the following report on its recent meeting with the EPA in Atlanta.

The subcommittee of City Council that was formed to address our EPA Administrative Order concerns, went to Atlanta, Ga., on Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013, to meet with staff from the Southeast Regional (Region 4) EPA office.

The meeting was attended by four EPA staff members: Denisse Diaz, clean water enforcement branch chief; Maurice Horsey, municipal and industrial enforcement section chief; Michele Whetherington, assistant regional counsel; and Dennis Sayre, our assigned contact in municipal and industrial enforcement.

[Read more…]

City considers $18 million in state loans for sewer system repairs

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The Oak Ridge City Council tonight will consider applying for $18 million in two state loans to help repair all sewer system overflows by September 2015.

The two state loans are low-interest loans granted by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, and they can be used for engineering and construction costs. Oak Ridge has received two earlier loans, one in 1998 and 2002.

The sewer system project is expected to cost $23 million total. The project, which will start in east Oak Ridge and move west, will also be funded by a $2 million Tennessee Municipal Bond Fund Loan and about $3 million in future debt or an amendment of the state loans.

[Read more…]

Guest column: Recommends more negotiations with EPA, DOE on sewer system upgrade

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Note: This is a copy of a letter sent to Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan and Oak Ridge City Council members, among others.

Dear Mayor Beehan,

Next Monday evening you will begin considering a major increase in the Oak Ridge city debt to finance the sewer upgrade project. This increase and the associated utility rate increases:

[Read more…]

Guest column: Let’s work hard rather than ‘rubber stamping’ water, sewer debt

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We are only a few days into 2013 and most of us have discovered that we will have to make do with less this year. Before January ends, Oak Ridgers will realize that fact again when they receive their water and sewer bills, which will reflect the second rate hike since last May.

But before you have a chance to see your newly increased bill, Oak Ridge City Council may take an action that will cause your rates to rise a third time before 2013 ends. On Jan. 14, City Council will vote whether or not to apply for two state loans totaling $18 million. This debt, in addition to a large portion of the $15 million issued since September 2011, will pay for work affiliated with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrative order that requires the city to stop sewer overflows.

All $33 million borrowed will be paid by Oak Ridgers through multiple increases in your water and sewer rates. The amount of those increases is not determined until after each round of debt is issued. In other words, the city first borrows on your behalf and then determines how much it will charge you without consideration for your ability to pay.

[Read more…]

Readers ask: What’s happening at the former Chevrolet dealership?

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R&R Enterprises and Chevrolet Dealership Site

Readers have inquired about the work at this 13-acre site at Oak Ridge Turnpike and California Avenue, and a property owner said the land is being used to store materials for city sewer work required under a federal mandate.

Several readers have noticed what appears to be construction work at a former Chevrolet dealership on Oak Ridge Turnpike and asked what  is happening there.

On Friday, Rick Chinn, partner in R&R Enterprises, which owns the 13-acre lot, said it is being used to store materials for city sewer work required under a federal mandate.

The land, which is east of Oak Ridge Veterinary Hospital and across from California Avenue, will also be used for operations during the sewer system project.

[Read more…]

New council member asks mayor to consider resigning, mayor says ‘no’

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Trina Baughn

Trina Baughn

Tom Beehan

Tom Beehan

New Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn has asked Mayor Tom Beehan to drop his bid for a third term as mayor and consider resigning.

In a column posted on her website and submitted to local media, Baughn lobs accusations at the mayor that range from his alleged public encouragement of “backroom meetings” on the high school debt to the alleged benefits he received from the $30 million Kroger Marketplace shopping center.

“An overwhelming percentage of Oak Ridgers have lost all confidence in Tom Beehan’s leadership abilities,” Baughn said. “They elected me to be their voice, and with this letter, I am keeping the only campaign promise that I specifically made: I will not cast my vote for Tom Beehan as mayor.”

The seven-member council is expected to appoint a mayor to serve a two-year term during a Monday, Dec. 10, meeting.

It’s Baughn’s first major move as a new City Council member, and Beehan dismissed it with dismay this week.

“If you had to fact-check that whole column and label it, it would be ‘pants on fire,’” Beehan said. “It’s mostly fiction.”

[Read more…]