City officials from Oak Ridge, Tenn., want to meet with Energy Department representatives before the federal agency issues a draft record of decision in August for a new 2.2-million-cubic yard landfill planned for the Oak Ridge Site.
City Manager Mark Watson made the request in a July 12 letter to Jay Mullis, manager of DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management.
The Energy Department expects to issue its draft record of decision on the Environmental Management Disposal Facility (EMDF) on Aug. 2. The document will then be submitted for review by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), a DOE spokesperson said by email Wednesday.
The public document explains an environmental plan of action at a Superfund site, such as Oak Ridge, under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA).
The Energy Department does not intend to hold a public meeting on a “draft pre-decisional document,” the spokesperson said, adding the agency is happy to meet with city officials. The draft ROD addresses issues raised during the formal comment period between September and December 2018, he added.
“Frankly, as the host community, the City of Oak Ridge finds the delay in addressing our questions and comments – dating back several years – disrespectful to the strong relationship” with DOE, Watson said. Serious public health, safety, and environmental issues “must be satisfactorily addressed now” before the document is issued and becomes a done deal, Watson said. The city has questions on site characterization for the landfill, waste acceptance criteria, mercury treatment and disposal, and life-cycle costs for on-site versus off-site disposal of waste.
The current landfill, the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility (EMWMF), should reach capacity in five to 10 years, filled mostly with construction waste from demolition of buildings at the former uranium enrichment complex that is now the East Tennessee Technology Park. The new landfill would take low-level radioactive and mixed waste from remediation at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex. Like the old facility, the new landfill would be located in the Bear Creek Valley at Oak Ridge.
Roane County, Tenn., where much of the Oak Ridge Site is located, views the proposed new landfill more favorably. The county commission passed a resolution in October 2018 endorsing the facility. A subsequent vote in March of this year aimed at rescinding the endorsement failed.
